


The Few Things

by VortexOfEntertainment



Series: The Few Things [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-04-20 06:12:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14254698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VortexOfEntertainment/pseuds/VortexOfEntertainment
Summary: Beca Mitchell isn't gay. At least, that's what she keeps telling herself until she meets a spunky redhead that makes it impossible to deny anymore.





	1. Enough

Beca woke with a start. The blaring music coming from her phone was entirely too loud. It wasn’t even a song she enjoyed. She reached over, grabbed her phone, and quickly shut the alarm off. 

Her eyes were burning. She let her hands move to her cheeks where she found they were wet. She hated when she woke up crying. It had been happening with more frequency lately. 

“Great,” she sighed while rubbing her face a little more vigorously. She knew she would have to work ten times as hard today to bury the emotions that apparently ran so freely while she was asleep. She wasn’t sure if she had the energy.

Beca looked over at her phone again. Why was she so scared to check her notifications? She knew nothing would be there. No one wanted to talk to her. Maybe that’s what she was scared of.

Her heart sank as she saw that she was correct. She only had one notification, and it was from  _him_. 

 **Jesse** :  _Sounds good. Good night_

Beca doesn’t remember sending him anything that ‘sounded good’. In fact, she distinctly remembers shutting him down last night when he sent a rather needy message close to 11 pm.

 **Jesse** :  _I need to see you_

 **Beca** :  _Umm, why?_

 **Jesse** :  _Why not?_

 **Beca** :  _Because it’s late and I’m already in bed. I’m so tired._

 **Jesse** :  _Dang_

That’s when Beca should have ended the conversation. She shouldn’t have told him that she would text him tomorrow because she was about to fall asleep. She knew she didn’t want to, but she felt so alone. He felt like the easy way out of her crippling thoughts. 

She should have never let Emily set her up with this guy, but he was Benji’s friend. Since the two had started dating about a month ago, they were hell-bent on finding Beca a man as well. 

Frankly, Beca didn’t give a shit. She wasn’t actively looking for anyone at the moment. There was too much going on in her life for that. She was too confused. She just needed to think. But she had sent that last message anyway, and apparently, it  _sounded good_. 

She rolled out of bed without replying to the message and found her way to a scalding hot shower. The steam fogged her vision, so she just closed her eyes and let the water pelt her skin. 

Her mind wandered to the conversation she had with her best friend, Stacie, the day before. She had finally told someone. She had built up the courage to tell Stacie what she knew was eating her alive. 

_“Emily and Benji have been, like, weirdly obsessed with finding me someone to date,” Beca started. She needed to get this off her chest. “And I just really don’t give a fuck, you know? But they set me up with this guy named Jesse, and he’s sweet. He really is. I’m just not very attracted to him and I think we’re just really different, but I told them I’d give him a chance. So, I am. I really am… but God, okay.” She ran her fingers through her hair. This is what she wasn’t ready to talk about. “I’ve been having these, um, these feelings. I’ve just been, like, really confused… sexually… and I just… I don’t know. I feel like a shitty person because even though I know I don’t like Jesse, I’m still going to give it a shot.”_

_“You’re not a shitty person,” Stacie answered. “Just talk to the people that make you happy, and don’t talk to anyone that takes too much energy to talk to. Life’s too short.”_

_“I just feel like I have to put on this front, you know? It’s like my thoughts are flying through my mind so fast and I just can’t hang on to one long enough to really absorb it.”_

_“Well, you don’t have to talk to anyone until you’re ready. It’s okay to be confused,”_

Beca’s skin was on fire. She opened her eyes and quickly reached for the knob to turn the hot water down. 

She turned her back to the steady pelting and tilted her head up, letting the water soak her hair. It felt good to just stand there. She didn’t have to worry about anyone else seeing the tears that were now streaking her face along with the shower. The salt water intermingled with the tap water and Beca just let it because she needed to get this all out of her system before her day started.

* * *

He was touching her. His arm was around her shoulder and she wanted to fucking  _run_ , but Emily looked so happy as she watched Benji play for all twenty people that just so happened to show up to eat pizza on the night he was performing. So, Beca sat there, with Jesse’s arm around her shoulder, and tried to look happy about it.

“My man can sing!” Emily said excitedly as she pulled her phone out to record Benji. He had been playing this gig for a few weeks now. This was only Emily’s second time to come watch him. 

Beca smiled a tight lip smile and tried to wiggle away from Jesse. “I’m going to the bar for a drink,” she said quietly.

“I’ll come with,” Jesse tried, but Beca held her hand out to stop him.

“No, it’s okay. I can get my own drink.” 

Jesse nodded once, and Emily continued to record Benji. Beca made her way to the rather empty bar and sat down on a vacant stool. She needed something strong. Something to ease her thoughts away from possibly murdering Jesse if he touched her again. 

“What will it be?” 

She ended up only getting a beer. She knew that if she had too much, she would start spilling her guts (both figuratively and literally) and that was something she was trying to avoid. 

“Something tells me you need a stronger drink,” Beca heard a kind voice say from beside her. 

Beca turned to see a beautiful redhead, eyes brighter than any others she had ever seen. The girl was wearing black skinny jeans and a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt. A khaki jacket was thrown over the back of her seat casually along with a black and white checked vest. It was a little warm in the pizza parlor. 

Beca tried to think of something clever to say, but instead just nodded slightly. Her heart was pounding a little harder than she was used to. This girl was stunning.

“You have good intuition,” Beca finally spoke. She grimaced a bit at the lame comeback. She was usually better than this. 

“Jack and coke?” the redhead said to the bartender who had brought Beca her beer. “Make that two,” the girl grinned, looking over with a smirk that made Beca’s stomach do a backflip.

“Hold the coke,” Beca found herself saying. The girl laughed.

“I’m Chloe, by the way,” she said, giving Beca the once-over with her sparkling eyes.

Beca suddenly became self-aware of the ripped blue jeans and plain grey V-neck she was wearing. She had left her leather jacket at the table and she really wished she had it. It gave her a sense of comfort. Something to wrap around her body to make her feel put together. 

“Beca,” she answered with a nod. 

The bartender sat a shot down in front of her and slid Chloe’s drink in her direction. Beca downed the shot, wishing she had another and looked at her new acquaintance. 

“Are you here alone, or…?” Beca asked looking around. She was sure there was no way Chloe was by herself. She was entirely too beautiful for that. 

“My friend kind of ditched me,” Chloe nodded. Beca suddenly felt a twinge of hatred towards the friend that made Chloe look so sad. “Which is fine, I was kind of third wheeling it anyway.”

“Been there before,” Beca chuckled. It was true. She had become the permanent third wheel to Emily and Benji’s duo. Well, until Jesse. 

“Looks like your friend is the third wheel tonight,” Chloe said motioning towards the table Beca desperately didn’t want to return to.

“Oh, no, that’s her boyfriend playing,” Beca nodded. “Benji.”

“He’s really good,” Chloe nodded. 

Beca watched as Chloe chewed on her straw and continued to stare intently at her. Her stare didn’t make Beca’s skin crawl like it did when Jesse looked at her. 

As if on cue, Beca heard the unmistakable call of “Becaw!” from her table and noticeably cringed at the hated new nickname. She closed her eyes momentarily to try and compose herself before opening them and looking back at Chloe’s amused face. 

She reached out and took the drink from Chloe’s hand, downing it in one go, then slammed it down on the bar a little harder than she meant to. 

“Put her next drink on my tab,” she told the bartender before giving Chloe one last look. “I should go,” she said quietly and went back to her table.

As soon as she sat down, Jesse’s arm was back around her shoulder. She wanted to vomit, but Emily looked so happy at the sight of them. 

“Who was that you were talking to?” Emily asked once Beca got settled.

“Um, her name is Chloe,” Beca answered. “She was just being nice.” 

“Is she by herself?” Jesse asked, turning to look at the redhead who was enjoying the music now. 

“Yeah, her friend ditched her,” Beca said with a slight nod. 

“That sucks,” Jesse exhaled but made no indication that he wanted to help Chloe. 

Beca raised an eyebrow when Jesse seemed to smile to himself.

“Becaw and I are about to head out,”

“Excuse me?”

“Where are you guys going?” Emily asked, elated that her matchmaking skills seemed to be paying off. Beca couldn’t help but think about how painfully oblivious she was.

“Just to ride around,” 

“No,” Beca finally said sternly. “I’m staying here.”

“Oh, come on!” Jesse said shaking Beca a little by the shoulders. He was wearing a goofy grin. “I know you want to,” he sang.

“Jesus, dude,” Beca mumbled, pushing his arm off of her. “I’m not interested, okay?” she said, voice rising a little bit. 

Jesse looked at her a little dumbfounded and Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Beca wanted to storm off, but Emily was her ride and she was stuck there until Benji finished which meant she was stuck in the perpetually awkward silence that filled the table. 

“I need another drink,” she finally mumbled.

Instead of going to the bar, she made a detour to the bathroom. She found that the door was locked when someone called out, “Occupied!” causing Beca to lose it. 

She stormed through the back exit and into the alleyway. Hot tears were burning her eye as her rage built up inside of her. Beca was sometimes an angry crier. She hated that about herself, which is why she tried not to feel anything too deeply to keep from making herself look like a fool. 

She clenched and unclenched her fists, itching to punch them through a wall or Jesse’s face. He was just so fucking assuming. She didn’t  _NEED_  a man, she didn’t  _NEED_  him to tell her what they were doing. She wasn’t a fucking damsel in distress. 

Her mind seemed to explode with emotion and thoughts. The floodgates had opened. The barrier was broken. There was nothing holding her back as she pounded the brick wall with her open left hand. She felt the roughness of it scratching her palm, but she didn’t care. She needed to feel something besides the panic and overwhelming urge to just scream. 

“Hey,” she heard the sweet voice say from the doorway, but she didn’t register it. “Beca!” Chloe said more sternly, grabbing the brunette by the shoulders and pulling her away from the wall. 

“Don’t touch me!” Beca said loudly, pulling out of the redhead’s grasp. Chloe held her hands up in surrender but didn’t back away. “Just don’t…” Beca started but stopped. Tears were falling down her cheeks and she couldn’t make them stop. 

She hated this. She hated feeling this way. She hated being vulnerable, especially in front of strangers. This wasn’t like her. Everything was just too much, and she knew if Chloe touched her that she would break completely. 

“It’s okay,” Chloe said quietly. She continued to hold her hands up. “You’re okay.”

“I’m not,” Beca shook her head and finally looked up to meet those sparkling blue eyes she was growing addicted to. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend!” Beca practically screamed. 

“Then don’t,” Chloe answered. “For one night, just stop pretending.”

Beca studied her, skeptic of where this was going. She was a stranger after all, but Beca felt a hundred times more comfortable with Chloe than she did with Jesse.

“Let’s go for a drive,” Chloe suggested. “We’ll talk, you can stop pretending, and I’ll just listen if that’s what you want. I won’t touch you, I won’t try to overstep any kind of boundary. Just… we’ll do whatever makes you comfortable. No judgment here.”

“No judgment?”

“None,” 

Beca looked at the redhead once more. She was sure it was safe. She could feel it in her gut. 

“Yeah, okay.” Beca nodded and followed the redhead around to the front and to her car. 


	2. Pause

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Thank so much for the feedback on the first chapter of this fic! As you can see, I renamed it to 'The Few Things' because I just loved the song that started to play while I was writing it so much, I thought it deserved more than just a chapter title. 
> 
> I hope this doesn't make confusing, and that you enjoy the new chapter! 
> 
> Please leave feedback!

Beca looked out the window as Chloe drove down the road away from the bar. She couldn’t believe she had actually gotten into a car with a stranger. Wasn’t that everything every grownup, ever, warned her not to do? Yet, here she was, a little buzzed and riding along with quiet music she had never heard playing in the background.

“You can change this if you want,” Chloe said as if reading Beca’s mind. She started to fumble with the radio dial but couldn’t seem to get the music to turn off. “It’s connected to my phone so it just kind of starts playing…” she trailed off as she started to hit random buttons. “Damn thing,” she mumbled. “This is a new car so I don’t quiet—”

“It’s fine,” Beca interrupted her. She couldn’t help but smile at the nervousness Chloe seemed to be showing. “I like new music,”

The redhead stopped fumbling with the radio long enough to look over at Beca and smile sheepishly. Beca smiled back, letting her stare linger just a little too long after Chloe turned back to face the road.

_She’s just so beautiful._

Beca shook her head a little as if to dislodge the thought and snapped her attention back out the window. Her hands were fidgeting in her lap, constantly spinning the ring on her middle finger around. She closed her eyes and listened intently as the music seemed to take over her mind.

It had become a defense mechanism. When Beca’s thoughts got to be too much, her mind would shut off. Some sort of melody would fill her head, one she created or some random song, and that would become her focus. Right now she wasn’t sure what she was listening to, but it was calming her down.

“What song is this?” she asked finally. She opened her eyes and noticed they were out of the city and going down some backroads. She wasn’t exactly sure where they were, but she wasn’t worried. She had a sense of calmness actually. Like she was safe.

“ _The Few Things_ ,” Chloe answered.

“Who sings it?”

“JP Saxe.”

Beca turned then and looked at Chloe who was focusing a little too hard on the road. She wondered if she knew where they were or if she was just driving.

She reached out and turned the volume knob to let the beat fill the car. She smiled a little at the lyrics and how perfect they seemed to be. She closed her eyes again, letting her head tilt from side to side as she felt the music hold her. It was something she loved about the art.

“How’s your hand?” Chloe asked once the song ended. She had turned the volume back down, but Beca didn’t mind. She had gotten into the car to stop pretending. Yet, it was all she had been doing since they got on the road. Pretending she wasn’t going out on a limb with a complete stranger, that she didn’t just beat the shit out of the wall with her palm, and that she was okay.

She opened her left hand to see what kind of damage she might have caused it. There were scrapes but nothing too serious. It was sore, but she could live with it.

“It’s fine,” she answered, closing it back into a fist. She held it tight to keep her hand from trembling. She felt suddenly weak and so exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep. “I didn’t mean to startle you back there. I just didn’t expect anyone to follow me out.”

“You looked upset,” Chloe said cautiously. Beca could tell she was really trying to stick to her word about not overstepping. Truthfully, Beca wanted to be pushed. Maybe talking wasn’t such a horrible idea, but then again maybe it was the worst.

“You could say that,” Beca nodded with a forced little laugh.

She sniffled a little and quickly wiped her nose with the back of her right hand. She wouldn’t cry. That was for sure. She was done with that.

“My friend set me up with that guy and he’s just so…” she stopped and looked back up to the window. She couldn’t think of the word she was searching for. There were so many things she wanted to say, but none of them seemed fair. “Not my type,” she finally settled on.

When she looked back to Chloe, she saw the redhead smirking a little and mulling over the words that she was about to say. Beca was eager to hear them.

“What  _is_  your type?” Chloe finally asked, a broad grin breaking over her face.

Beca couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of her. It was short, but real.

“Hell if I know,” she finally answered truthfully. Her smile slowly dropped and she took a deep breath. Her mind was spinning, trying to figure what to say and what not to say. She straightened her back and rolled her neck again. The tension there was ridiculous.

“I mean, it’s okay not to know,” Chloe spoke. She flipped her blinker on and took a right.

“So I’ve heard,” Beca said under her breath. She inhaled and then let the breath out slowly. Her nerves were building up again and she needed them to just calm the fuck down. If they could do that for her, then she’d be okay. “I’m not someone who doesn’t like to know.”

“Control freak?” Chloe asked, grinning again.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Beca replied with a smirk. “I’m pretty laid back. Just not so much lately.”

“I get that,” Chloe nodded.

Beca watched her lean forward a little and squint at the road. She decided then that Chloe had a certain destination in mind. The redhead  _did_  look more relaxed, which in turn relaxed Beca.

“I don’t really have a type,” Chloe told her. “Blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, blonde, brunette, redhead, boy, girl, tall, short, whatever. I like all the people.”

“All the people?” Beca asked with her signature smirk. It was adorable how Chloe worded it.

“Yep!” Chloe chirped.

Beca’s smirk turned into a grin along with an actual chuckle. She was starting to see that Chloe wasn’t some sultry, mysterious bar chick. She was a bubbly people person. Or maybe she was both?

Beca would probably bet on her being both, which sent her mind spiraling in a way she couldn’t control. She also knew there was a lot more to Chloe that she didn’t know, but she was dying to figure out.

She found herself staring again and had to force her gaze to turn to what was in front of them. Chloe had pulled off the road and they were looking over a cliff to where the city lights lit up the darkness.

“Wow,” Beca exhaled.

The view was breathtaking. She could see the sparkle of the lights, but also the calmness of nature around them. Her hands stopped fidgeting and her mind stopped reeling. It was as if someone had hit the pause button on her life. No, not someone.  _Chloe_  had hit the pause button.

They sat in silence for what seemed like only a few minutes, but when Beca looked at the clock she realized it had almost been an hour. She didn’t want to leave though, she just wanted to stay in the moment forever where time didn’t seem to exist and there wasn’t a ton of weight settled on her shoulders.

“For what it’s worth,” Chloe finally spoke. Her voice was a bit hoarse from lack of use. Beca turned to look at her and found those mesmerizing eyes already looking back at her. “I don’t think that guy is good enough for you.”

“You don’t even know me,” Beca said back immediately. She didn’t mean it in a rude way, but it was her first reaction. Her voice was quiet when she spoke, almost scared that breaking the silence would rip the moment away from her.

“No, but I like to think I can tell when a girl is in an unhealthy relationship,” Chloe told her. Beca’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “I mean, I was that girl for the longest, so…” she let her voice trail off as she looked away.

Beca could tell that it was hard for her, something she didn’t necessarily want to talk about. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, and if she could possibly kick the person’s ass that hurt this woman.

“We aren’t exactly in a relationship,” Beca told her. “Well,  _I_  wasn’t at least. We never talked about it, but he was way more interested than I was.”

“Clearly,” Chloe laughed.

They fell back into a comfortable silence. It was refreshing for Beca. Not having to put on a facade to please anyone. Not having to pretend to like someone for… well, she wasn’t really sure why she did that now that she thought about it. Yeah, she knew it made Emily happy to see two people she cared about come together, but it wasn’t worth Beca’s own happiness.

“I think I was in self-destruct mode,” Beca spoke up. Chloe turned to face her, Beca could tell even though she didn’t meet her eyes. “Like, I knew it wasn’t going to work but a part of me craved that disaster anyway. Maybe to just clear things up, or maybe just to have a reason to feel the way I do.”

She was really putting herself out there. She  _never_  did that. The words were strangling her, trying to keep from escaping, but she needed to say this. Who better to tell it to than a stranger she may or may not see again? To a girl Beca was sure if she got to know would only confuse her further.

Chloe didn’t speak, and Beca was thankful for that. She knew that anything her new acquaintance would say wouldn’t resonate. Like she had pointed out, the redhead didn’t know her. What she told her would just be generic comments laced with bullshit in Beca’s mind.

What she didn’t expect was for Chloe to reach over and take her hand. The redhead laced their fingers together but kept her eyes on the view ahead.

Beca’s heartbeat quickened at the touch. The warmth seemed to spread throughout her body slowly and her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t move though. It was nice; the innocent contact that sent her senses into overdrive. Chloe’s thumb that started to stroke her hand oddly calmed her down. With each movement, her body relaxed, and she let her hand be held.

She wondered what happened to her walls. The ones that were usually so built up and strong. The ones that kept Jesse out and even Emily from time to time. Stacie was really the only one that ever took the time to chip away at them, and even she had trouble doing that.

One look, one touch, one conversation from the redhead and she was already further in than Beca cared to admit.

Without another word, Chloe put the car in reverse and back out onto the main road, still holding tight to Beca’s hand.

The drive back was quiet until Chloe got excited about a song that happened to shuffle through the speakers. She dropped Beca’s hand and reached for the volume knob, cranking it up to a deafening level.

Beca didn’t mind. It was actually how she preferred her music.

She recognized the song immediately when Chloe started to rap  _Gangsta’s Paradise_.

_“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death_

_I take a look at my life and realize there’s nothin’ left_

_‘Cause I’ve been blastin’ and laughin’ so long_

_That even my moms thinks that my mind is gone…”_

Chloe rapping quickly became Beca’s favorite thing. Watching her hands move animatedly while using her knees to control the wheel. She couldn’t help but smile and laugh from time to time when Chloe would look at her, eyes shining and hands moving, to sing to her.

When she finished, Beca had to wipe a tear from her eyes from laughing. The next song didn’t excite Chloe, so she turned the volume back down. Her smile looked as if it might split her face.

Beca looked down at her phone for the time and inhaled sharply at all the missed calls and texts she had.

“Shit,” she mumbled as she started to scroll through them.

**EM**

Today 10:31 PM

_Where did you go?_

_I’m sorry about Jesse. please don’t be mad_

_Please answer me. I’m getting worried_

Today 11:03 PM

_Beca. Call me back please._

_I am srsly considering calling the cops if you don’t answer in the next ten minutes_

Beca sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She typed out a quick reply.  _I’m with Chloe. I’m fine. Are you still there?_

“Can I ask you something?” Chloe asked, stealing glances at Beca as her thumbs hovered over her screen and she thought about whether or not adding more would be a good thing or a bad thing. Before she could answer, Chloe continued, “You totally don’t have to answer because I promised I wouldn’t overstep and I already broke one of the rules by holding your hand so…”

“Go ahead,” Beca smirked with a shake of her head. Chloe’s nervousness was cute.

“Why didn’t you like that guy?”

Beca looked back down at her phone as the bubbles appeared saying Emily was typing. She locked her phone, not really caring whether or not her friend was waiting for her at the pizza parlor. She was content riding with Chloe, and she was sure the redhead would give her a ride home if needed.

“The only thing we had in common were our friends,” she started. “We both like music, but he likes movie scores and watching movies. I hate movies. They’re so predictable,”

She studied Chloe for a reaction, but the redhead just sat patiently. Usually telling someone she disliked movies got some kind of rise out of them.

She chanced a glance down at her phone and saw the Emily had replied.

“We thought differently, too,” she went on. “I’m not calling him stupid or anything, but we were just intelligent in our own ways. He played it off as if we could teach each other some things. Which I bought at first because I thought maybe I could make it work if I really tried.”

“Why did you want it to work?” Chloe asked. They were getting close to where Emily had informed Beca she was still waiting. Benji and Jesse were gone.

“I thought it would make my friend happy,” Beca answered honestly. “Plus, I haven’t been in a relationship for a while and thought that maybe something was wrong with me and this was as good as it might get.”

 _Wow. Where did that come from?_ Beca thought to herself. She furrowed her brows at the confession and then turned to Chloe.

“How do you do that?” Beca asked, genuinely curious.

“Do what?” Chloe asked with a chuckle.

“Get me to open up like that? I don’t usually just spill my guts.”

“I guess it’s a gift,” Chloe grinned, looking over at the brunette. “Can I add something though?”

“Please,” Beca nodded.  _Why the hell not?_

“I find it kind of crazy that your friend thought you two were compatible,” Chloe said slowly. “I’m not trying to diss your friend, but still. You two just seemed…” she paused and tilted her head in thought as she watched the road. “I don’t know. It seemed pretty obvious to me that you were uncomfortable the entire time.”

“I think Em is just so in love that she wants everyone else around her to experience it, too,” Beca explained. She knew Emily would never do anything on purpose to make her uncomfortable or miserable. Beca just craved that misery in some sick, twisted, way so she had agreed to something she knew would be a disaster from the beginning. “It’s my fault really,”

Chloe made a high pitched noise as if she was contemplating Beca’s statement, taking it under advisement, and clearly not seeing the reasoning behind it. She was biting the bottom right side of her lip as if she was really trying to understand. It might have been the most adorable thing Beca had ever seen.

“It is, but I don’t really want to dive into that,” Beca clarified. She had shared enough. Her walls were down with this girl and it scared the hell out of her. She needed those walls now more than ever. “There she is,” Beca said, pointing to Emily who was leaned up against the front entrance of the now-closed pizza parlor.

Chloe stopped the car and put it in park. She didn’t look at Beca immediately, but eventually she turned her head towards the brunette.

“Thanks for this,” Beca said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the bright blue skies that were staring back at her.

“Any time,” Chloe smiled. “As a matter of fact…”

She plucked Beca’s phone out of her hand and started typing away. When Beca didn’t even try to retrieve her phone, she knew she was in for a wild ride. She was falling hard for this girl. She never let anyone touch anything of hers so freely.

“There, now you have my number. Don’t be afraid to use it,” Chloe grinned, handing Beca her phone back.

She looked down and saw that the name ‘Chloe Beale’ had appeared in her contact list. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips as she reached for the car handle.

Beca hesitated. She wanted to wrap her arms around the redhead, thank her properly, but instead she just opened the door and slid out of the seat.

As soon as her feet hit the pavement and she closed the door, Emily’s long lanky body was wrapped around her in a suffocating hug.

“Oof,” Beca exhaled at the impact. She could hear the car Chloe was driving pull away and she managed a glimpse at the redhead before she pulled out on to the road.

“I was so worried,” Emily exhaled, letting go of Beca and studying her face. “You can’t just disappear like that. Someone could have gotten you! You could have died!”

Beca laughed slightly at her friend’s overreaction. She was used to them by now. Emily was an innocent soul, for the most part, and freaked out over the tiniest things (good or bad).

“I’m fine, Em,” Beca reassured her. She rested her hands on the taller girls shoulders. “I shouldn’t have left like that. I just needed space.”

“With Chloe?” Emily asked. She looked a little hurt.

 _She offered me something I couldn’t refuse_ , Beca thought,  _plus, try saying no to those eyes._

Instead of answering, she just gave Emily a tight smile and decided to lie.

“I didn’t want to put you in the middle. Jesse is Benji’s friend and that kind of links him to you, so…”

“I don’t care, you’re my best friend,” Emily told her sternly. “I’ll choose you any day.”

“Thanks,” Beca chuckled. “Can we go now? I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, of course,” Emily nodded, face still serious. Beca knew it wouldn’t take too long for her friend to lighten up.

She got into the car and looked down at her phone, contemplating on whether or not it was too early to text Chloe.

_A simple thank you wouldn’t hurt, right?_

“Beca,” Emily spoke once they were on the road towards Beca’s apartment.

She looked up from where she had been staring at an empty message thread between her and Chloe. Her thumbs hovered over the screen, hesitant to start something so soon.

“You would tell me if something was really wrong, right?” Emily asked.

Beca could see the worry crease her friend’s brow. She never meant to worry Emily. She also never really went into great detail about the feelings she had (or lack thereof) because she wanted to protect her innocent, childlike, persona. It wasn’t fair to Emily, Beca knew that, but she also didn’t want to change the way Emily looked at her. And surely informing the girl of the depressing, earth-shattering thoughts that wracked Beca’s brain would change  _something_. She would go crazy when she found out Beca just preferred to shut down and not feel anything if she could help it. She thought it was all a little much for her younger friend.

“Of course,” Beca nodded. Another lie.

She looked back down at her phone and closed the messaging app. She should wait. She should wait and talk to Stacie before taking any drastic steps of her own.

Because Beca knew just how bad she was at making the tough decisions, and if she was about to start what she thought she wanted, it would take a lot of time to figure out and process before sending that first message to the gorgeous redhead she had found herself clinging to for dear life.

_Fuck, I’m screwed._


	3. Push

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the feed back! Keep it coming!

Beca paced back and forth in front of her bed with her thumbnail between her teeth, absent-mindedly chewing on it. Her stare was vacant, her pace was quick, and her heart was pounding with nerves.

She had really worked herself up this time. Why couldn’t she just react to things like a normal person? She either showed too much emotion or not nearly enough. There never seemed to be a happy medium.

“I’m here!” Stacie said, bursting through the door to Beca’s bedroom.

She was breathless, and her hair was a little all over the place, but Beca assumed she ran here considering she had texted her SOS which they never do (Beca never at all) unless something was terribly wrong. Stacie lives just down the street, and usually she takes a nice stroll to Beca’s apartment. That was clearly not the case today.

“What…” Stacie tried to get out, but she stopped and put her hands on her knees. “God, I have to start working out again,” she huffed. She finally straightened and looked at Beca. “What’s going on?”

“Chloe text me,” Beca said, stopping her movements. She pointed to the phone on her bed where she had text Chloe to thank her for ‘letting her pretend’. No big deal, right? Well, it wasn’t, or it wasn’t supposed to be until the redhead had text back, asking Beca if she would join her for a hike next weekend and then maybe some dinner. To Beca, it sounded a lot like a date, and that freaked her out.

“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me because Chloe texted you back?” Stacie asked, looking a little miffed at the thought. “I thought you were dying!”

“Why does everyone assume I’m going to die?” Beca asked, remembering Emily’s concern from the night before.

“You’re just so tiny,” Stacie said, trying to keep a serious face but failing. She knew how much Beca hated little quips about her size, but sometimes she just couldn’t resist.

“Fuck off,” Beca told her and held up a middle finger.

“What did she say?” Stacie asked, ignoring Beca’s usual reply to a lot of things.

“She asked me to go hiking with her and to get dinner,” Beca told her, reverting back to her nervous state.

Stacie moved over to Beca’s bed and picked up her phone.

**Chloe Beale**

Today 12:26 PM

**Beca:** _Thanks again for last night._

**Chloe:** _Of course._

**Chloe:** _I was thinking... Do you want to maybe go hiking with me next weekend?_

**Chloe:** _Grab some dinner afterward?_

“First of all, who’s Chloe?” Stacie asked, looking up at Beca.

“This girl that was at the bar last night,” Beca explained. “I kind of had a meltdown in the alley, and she took me for a ride in her car so I could calm down.”

“And you two hit it off?” Stacie asked, just to clarify.

Beca nodded but knew she would have to explain more. “She was so nice,” she started. She stopped pacing but avoided eye contact with Stacie at all cost. She chose to focus on the bracelet she was wearing and spinning it around her wrist. “She listened, and she made me laugh—”

“And she’s beautiful…” Stacie added.

Beca’s head snapped up and saw her friend staring down at her phone. She quickly sat next to Stacie and looked over her shoulder.

“You already found her on Facebook?” Beca asked, pulling her phone out of Stacie’s grasp before she had the idea to send the redhead a friend request. Stacie seriously had no boundaries.

“There’s not that many Chloe Beale’s in the area,” Stacie said, now looking over Beca’s shoulder as she scrolled through the girl’s profile. “She likes animals,” Stacie noted with a raise of her eyebrows. “Says here she’s going to school to be a vet.”

“I can read, Stace,” Beca mumbled. She scrolled down a bit until she stopped at a selfie the redhead had posted not too long ago. It was breathtaking.

She was in a plain white t-shirt, but her hair had a bit of a messy bedhead look to it. Her blue eyes were shining bright and her mascara elongated her lashes. What Beca really loved, though, were the freckles that dotted her skin. They were across her nose and down her chest.

“She’s hot,” Stacie said, interrupting Beca’s thought.

Beca kept her mouth shut. Her skin tingled all over when she looked at Chloe (in a good way), and her heart seemed to stutter a bit as she got lost in those aqua blue eyes.

“You like her!” Stacie said loudly, causing Beca to jerk back in response.

“What?”

“You’re freaking out because she asked you to hang out and you like her, Beca Mitchell!”

Stacie was on her feet now, pointing a finger at her friend with an all-knowing grin spread across her face.

“Shut up,” Beca defended herself. It wasn’t her best comeback, and it definitely gave Stacie the reassurance she needed to know she was right.

“What are you waiting for, then? Tell her you’ll go!”

“But…” Beca mumbled, looking down at her phone where she now had the messages pulled up.

It couldn’t be that easy, could it? Maybe it wasn’t a date. Maybe it was just two friends, hanging out in the woods, and then going to get some food. She had gone out with Stacie and Emily plenty of times like that. Well, not hiking. They weren’t crazy. But Beca could give hiking a shot if it meant spending more time with Chloe.

 _That’s the problem_ , she couldn’t help but think. _You want more._

She scratched the back of her neck and let her hand rest there as she closed her eyes.

“Beca,” Stacie said, seeing the turmoil all over her friend’s face. She let her hands fall on Beca’s shoulders, forcing her to look into her eyes. “Why don’t you turn your brain off for, like, two seconds and just tell me what it is you want to do. Not what you think you want, or what you think you’re feeling, but what’s actually happening.”

“Um,” Beca mumbled and closed her eyes again. “I want to go,” she nodded. “And I want to get to know her. Like, really know her.”

“Then that settles it,” Stacie said grabbing Beca’s phone again.

“DUDE NO!” Beca exclaimed, jumping up and reaching for her phone. Stacie’s height was too much for her though. The taller brunette held the phone up in the air and used her other arm to fend off the feisty, shorter brunette.

“I’m telling her you’d love to go,” Stacie said, typing with the hand that was above her head.

“Stacie seriously! This is _so_ not cool!” Beca whined as she jumped up for the phone. Stacie managed to move away just in time.

Beca was starting to get angry. She should have known better than to tell Stacie. She should have realized just how intruding her friend was and that she constantly pushed Beca out of her comfort zone. Probably for Beca’s own good, but every now and then she just wanted to relax in the presence of her friends. She wanted to not feel like she had to put on an act to fit in.

She heard the sound of a message being sent and the fury washed over her.

“GOD DAMMIT STACIE,” she yelled and practically tackled the other girl to the ground. She wrestled her phone out of Stacie’s hand and looked at the message. There was already a bubble showing that Chloe was replying, and within seconds the redhead’s response came in.

**Beca:** _That sounds good_

**Chloe:** _Awes! I’ll send you the details closer to time._

Without giving away her excitement, she pushed herself off of Stacie. She immediately felt calm as she typed out a quick reply: _Can’t wait :)_

“Jesus,” Stacie mumbled as she got up and righted herself. “Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“I just need you to back off,” Beca said sharply. Her anger was back. “This is a big deal. This isn’t like me saying no to going to a party with you or trying to get rid of a one-night stand.”

Beca knew she was letting all of the pent-up energy and anger out on the wrong person. She was madder at herself than anything, but she couldn’t exactly yell at herself. She could only think loud thoughts, and that just wasn’t cutting it.

“This is a huge step for me, Stace,” Beca said a little calmer. “You can’t just treat it like it’s not.”

Stacie studied her best friend for a second and took in the broken state she seemed to be in. There was so much Beca never told her. The inner turmoil of her mind was a mystery to Stacie, and Beca wanted to keep it that way. No one needed to know what happened in that dark place. That was for her and her only. It was her burden to carry and she’d be damned if she ever put it on anyone else.

“I’m sorry,” Stacie finally said. “I know this is scary for you and confusing, but I also know that without a push you’ll never do anything to actually figure yourself out.” She crossed her arms over her chest, letting most of her weight rest on her right leg with her hip jutted out. “This is new territory for you, and it’s scary. It’s okay to freak out, but don’t just bottle it all up or you will explode, and it might not be on me next time.”

Beca looked back down at the ground. She hadn’t really thought she had _exploded_. She was upset, yeah, but did she really explode? She was sure there was more she could have done that she held back from.

She didn’t answer. She just looked down at her phone at where Chloe had texted her again. She was asking what she was up to.

 _If you only knew_ , Beca chuckled to herself.

She shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. She just needed a break from her thoughts. Was that too much to ask?

“Hey guys,” Emily said, poking her head into the room. “Is everything okay? I heard yelling.”

“Peachy,” Beca replied as she flopped down on her bed. She hadn’t even known her other friend was in the apartment, although Emily did just drop by a lot unannounced. Beca was okay with it, it took some time, but she was okay with it.

“Is this about Jesse? I’m sorry again Beca, I didn’t know—”

“Not about Jesse,” Stacie interrupted Emily.

“Then is it about Chloe?” Emily asked.

“For fuck’s sake,” Beca mumbled and covered her face with her hands.

_Am I that obvious?_

She hadn’t thought she had shown her feelings that much or talked about her outing with the redhead in too much detail. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was as transparent as glass. Who had she become? The old Beca Mitchell would never have let this happen.

“Did I do something wrong?” Emily asked Stacie quietly.

Beca stood at that and pushed her way out of her bedroom and into the bathroom across the hall. She slammed the door and turned the lock, feeling like a teenager in the process. She just needed some time alone; time to reflect on her thoughts and figure out what the hell was happening.

A notification popped up on her phone before she even had time to sink to the floor. Chloe had added her on Snapchat and she had a pending snap waiting for her.

She approved it, maybe a little eagerly, and quickly followed her back while she was at it. She opened the snap and couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips.

Chloe’s body was angled to the side, slightly off center of the camera. Her mouth was in a bit of a quirky Elvis-y type snarl, causing one eye to squint slightly and her nose to crinkle. She was giving the camera a thumb up, which Beca assumed meant ‘thanks for the add’ or something like that. She noticed the ring there, wondering if it was a daily accessory because she had noticed it the night before, too. The black snapback on her head and the grey sweater made Beca think maybe she was just having a lazy day, which sounded amazing. Although the handles of a bike could be seen in the background, inside… Beca couldn’t help but wonder what that was about.

She had to fight the urge to screenshot it.

Beca lifted her phone in front of her face and gave her best selfie face back. Her usual go-to was tongue out, hand in the ‘rock on’ symbol, and one eye (sometimes) closed in an attempt to wink. She retook the picture two or three times to make sure the lighting made her look decent. She hadn’t been out of the apartment all day. She was sure she looked like total shit.

She sent it anyway because that was as decent of a picture as Chloe would get for the time being. She didn’t want to just take a picture of an inanimate object or send back a black screen.

She dropped her phone to the floor and took a deep breath. She felt stupid for being so dramatic earlier. It was just as if everything was falling down at once. Sometimes it could all get to be a little much.

Her phone buzzed again. Chloe’s name appeared twice on the screen; once as a text message and the other as a snap. Beca opened the text first, not really feeling up for taking another selfie of herself in the bathroom.

Chloe just asked a simple question: _red or white wine?_

Beca’s stomach flipped at what she thought Chloe might have in store for her during their after-hike meal. She wasn’t expecting anything wine worthy. Wouldn’t they be all hot and sweaty after the hike? Atlanta was a hot place, especially during the summer.

She typed back a quick ‘ _Either’_ and hit send, then moved to the Snapchat.

The picture was of a picnic basket. Two wine bottles sat in front of it and a blanket had already been shoved inside, the corner peeking out of the basket just a bit.

So that’s what the redhead was planning. A picnic once they reached wherever the hell they were hiking to. That didn’t sound so bad. Kind of romantic, actually, now that Beca thought of it.

Her mind switched back into panic mode.

But then Chloe’s name showed up at the top of her phone with another text. _Would beer be better?_ Then another immediately after. _Or jack and coke, hold the coke ;)_

Beca smiled at that. She wasn’t really sure what to say. It all sounded appealing to her. Something must have taken over her because before she knew it, she was offering to just carry Chloe out for a drink herself. They could hike, come back to her place and get ready, then hit a club or something that night.

Chloe was elated at that (Beca wasn’t totally convinced it wasn’t her plan all along), and Beca’s heart sped up in a good way again. The way it did when she thought of being with Chloe, or even when she was just around the redhead.

It felt strange being so desperately eager to see someone she would still consider a stranger. She really didn’t know much about Chloe beside what her private Facebook account showed (a short amount of information and recent profile pictures being the extent to Beca’s dismay). She wanted to know more though, sooooo badly.

She wanted to know how Chloe became interested in being a vet, where she went to college and if she was in a sorority, how she got the scar just off center of her forehead. Hell, she even wanted to know all the cliché shit: her favorite color, movie, food, song, music genre, memory, flower, etc. Beca wanted to know EVERYTHING about this girl and it was killing her a bit inside.

* * *

 

Beca found herself back at the pizza parlor that night. She needed a drink. Her mind wouldn’t shut down long enough for her to sleep, and this was the closest bar to her apartment. Plus, she really didn’t feel like going somewhere the music would be loud and the people insufferable.

What she didn’t expect to see was a familiar redhead sitting in the exact same spot at the bar, talking animatedly to the blonde bartender that wasn’t there the night before.

She was wearing the same thing she had been wearing in her earlier snaps, except now Beca could see that she had changed her sweatpants for some jeans. She was tapping her thumbs on the bar as she spoke to her friend and she looked so intrigued, Beca thought maybe she should just turn around and leave.

Before she had the chance, Chloe turned and looked at her as if out of instinct. Her face lit up, eyes sparkling and smile dazzling, which caused her friend to turn and look at Beca too.

“Beca!” Chloe said excitedly as the brunette made her way over to her. “Jess, this is Beca. Beca this is a good friend of mine, Jessica.”

Beca offered a gentle wave and a “Nice to meet you,” as she took a seat beside Chloe.

The redhead immediately shifted in her seat so that she was closer to Beca, leaning onto the bar and propping her head up with her left hand.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked. Beca just shrugged.

“Thought I could use a drink or two,” Beca answered honestly. She couldn’t bring herself to lie to this girl.

“Rough day?” Chloe asked.

“Eh,” Beca answered, and she planned on telling her more. She really did. But Chloe’s hand was on her shoulder, gently kneading to work out the tension there.

It was as if Beca couldn’t move. She was afraid that if she did, Chloe would remove her hand and that would probably be the worst thing in the world.

“What can I get you?” Jessica asked. She wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing that was covered in flour. Little white puffs of residue came up from it and she huffed in frustration before just taking it off altogether.

“Allagash Cureiux,” Beca answered with a nod.

“Make that two,” Chloe said holding up her free hand, never taking her eyes off Beca.

It was giving her goosebumps. Chloe’s eyes studied her intensely and Beca knew as soon as she looked over at her she’d be lost in the bright blue orbs. So, instead, she kept her gaze fixed on Jessica as she fixed them their drinks. She set the glasses down in front of them and then tended to other customers.

Chloe’s hand left Beca’s shoulder and she suddenly felt a chill run through her body. She hadn’t realized the warmth that radiated from the redhead.

Beca took a sip of her beer as her companion did the same. It was her favorite kind, and she should have just ordered a whole pitcher because she was kind of in the mood to get sloppy drunk and forget everything weighing her down.

That plan changed though when she saw Chloe. She couldn’t get sloppy drunk in front of her. There was no telling what would come out of her mouth.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to Sweetwater Creek State Park,” Chloe spoke, breaking the silence. “Have you ever been?”

“Can’t say that I have,” Beca answered as she finally looked at the redhead.

“I think you’ll like it, it’s beautiful.” Chloe nodded as she said this. Beca couldn’t help but feel maybe she was trying to convince herself that Beca would like it just as much as she was trying to convince the brunette.

“I will warn you, I’m not much of a hiker so take it easy on me,” Beca chuckled.

Chloe smiled at that and turned to look at her. Beca swore her heart skipped a beat, as cliché as that sounded.

“I’ll be gentle,” Chloe replied in a voice that almost threw Beca off the chair. It was seductive, genuine, threaded with double-meaning, and definitely not innocent.

Instead of answering, Beca lifted her glass to her lips and took a huge drink from her favorite beer. Maybe getting sloppy drunk wasn’t a _horrible_ idea.

* * *

 

Beca learned that Chloe’s favorite movie heavily depended on her mood. Most of the time it was _Dirty Dancing_. It was a ‘classic’ and she loved to dance, so that was a plus. Her favorite color was pink, but she loved to wear aqua blue to make her hair pop and her eyes shine. Beca argued that her eyes shined enough without any enhancing colors. That had made Chloe smile.

“You’re telling me you’ve never seen _Grease_?” Chloe asked as she put her glass down on the bar, empty.

“Nope,” Beca answered with a shake of her head.

She was feeling good. The buzz that had her body humming made it easier to talk and her smile come a little easier. She could even look at Chloe for longer than five seconds without getting all fluttery and having to look away.

“It’s, like, my favorite--”

“Okay, you can’t say every movie is your favorite movie!” Beca argued with a laugh.

It was true. Every time Chloe named off a movie Beca hadn’t seen she would argue it was her favorite and she just couldn’t believe how uncultured the brunette was. Beca knew she was just joking though. It was different when, say, Jesse got on her case about not seeing _The Breakfast Club_ or _Star Wars_.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Chloe laughed. It was becoming Beca’s favorite sound. The giggle that just seemed to bubble out of the redhead was infectious.

“Name one movie that you don’t like,” Beca challenged. She finished her drink and waved off Jessica who tried to refill it.

“Umm…” Chloe’s face grew serious as she thought. She tapped her pointer finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. A smile broke out over her face as she giggled again, “I can’t think of one.”

“Seriously?” Beca asked, smiling herself. The two girls fell into a fit of giggles.

“Guys,” Jessica said pulling them out of their bubble.

Beca looked around and noticed all the chairs had been put up on the tables and the place was empty.

“I have to close up,” Jessica added. She turned towards Chloe, “You can hang out until I turn the lights out, but I have to get home. Ashley keeps texting me. Apparently, she had a pretty rough day.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, going from giggling to concerned in no time. She sat up a little straighter. “We’ll go,” Chloe added. She turned and looked at Beca momentarily, placing a hand over the one Beca had resting on the bar, before turning back to Jessica. “We don’t want to keep you. I hope everything’s okay.”

“I’m sure everything’s fine,” Jessica nodded and looked at Beca with a small smile. “It was nice to meet you, Beca.”

“Yeah, you too,” Beca nodded as Chloe pulled her off the stool. 

She followed the redhead outside. She wasn’t sure when her fingers intertwined with Chloe’s, but she liked it. She didn’t want to let go. So far in their relationship, it had been Chloe holding Beca’s hand. Either limp in her lap in the car or resting easily on the bar as they spoke. Beca hadn’t held her hand back yet, not until now.

 _Wait_ , Beca thought, _when did it become a relationship?_

When she tuned back into reality, she found herself face to face with Chloe. Her eyes were cast down, watching her own hand as she played with Beca’s fingers. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth and she seemed to be slowly moving closer to Beca, although the brunette never actually saw her move. Maybe it was Beca moving closer to her.

“I really like talking to you,” Chloe finally said to break the silence. She looked at Beca through those long lashes and Beca swore time stood still.

Her heart was hammering in her chest. She could barely hear anything over the sound of it. She wasn’t sure how Chloe _couldn’t_ hear it.

“I like talking to you, too,” Beca managed to get out. She was finding it hard to find words. 

Chloe reached out and took Beca’s other hand in hers and swung them back and forth between them. Beca couldn’t help the smirk that grew on her face from the cheesiness of it all.

She never thought she’d find herself in a situation like this; holding hands in a parking lot late at night where she just didn’t want to leave, hands being held and rocked back and forth between her and the other person. Mostly because it was something she would _never_ do, but Chloe had her doing a lot of things differently lately.

“So, what time should we head out Saturday?” Chloe asked. Her hat was tilted up a bit making her eyes easily visible. Beca was wearing a higher boot, which brought her to Chloe’s height.

“Do you still want to come back to my place and then go out later that night?” Beca asked. She was pretty sure that was still the plan, but she always liked to double check.

“Mhm,” Chloe nodded with a certain twinkle in her eyes. It made Beca’s palms sweat more than they already were, and a flash of heat run through her body.

She cleared her throat to speak which made Chloe smile at the effects she had on the brunette.

“Yeah, so, um, maybe we could go after lunch? I mean, I don’t really know how long this is supposed to take or anything like that, so…”

“After lunch sounds perfect,” Chloe nodded to stop Beca from rambling. Beca felt a tug on her hands and she stumbled towards the redhead a bit. “So, it’s a date?” Chloe asked, eyebrows rising and a hopeful look taking over her features.

Beca’s breath hitched in her throat as she realized just how close Chloe’s face was to hers. You know how in cartoons sparks fly and smoke curls from the characters head when their brain is overworked? Beca was pretty sure that was happening to her now. The wheels were turning but were also jammed.

Instead of answering, she just gave Chloe a tight smile and an awkward laugh. The amusement on Chloe’s face was evident, but Beca couldn’t form words into a coherent sentence.

“I guess we’ll see,” Chloe said as she let go of Beca’s hands. She took a step back and gave a little wave as she backed away towards her car. “See you then,” she added and just like that, she was in her car and driving away.

Beca stood dumbfounded by the effect that girl had on her.

Her mouth hung open just slightly and her heart finally seemed to slow down back to normal.

What had she gotten herself into?


	4. Hiking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Chloe go on a hike together and end up digging into each other's past a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! So sorry for the delayed update. Life has been super hectic lately and a lot has been going on. Follow me on tumblr @vortexofentertainment where I included a social media post that goes along with this fic. I'm going to try and do that more often. I hope you all enjoy!

Beca looked at herself in the mirror. She never thought she’d see the day that she would wear jeans with anything but converse, much less hiking boots. Although, her blue plaid shirt that hung open over a plain grey tank top was very familiar and comforting.

“Are you sure this doesn’t make me look stupid?” Beca asked Stacie as she turned slightly to her right to look at herself from a different angle.

“You look adorable,” Stacie answered as she popped a grape in her mouth.

Beca narrowed her glare at the word Stacie had chosen to describe her. ‘Adorable’ wasn’t exactly what she was going for, but it was better than nothing she guessed.

“Don’t forget to put on sunscreen,” Emily said from her spot beside Stacie.

“Yes mother,” Beca mumbled as she picked up her backpack.

Chloe had instructed her to bring bottles of water for their hike along with bug spray and sunscreen. Chloe was in charge of snacks and the first-aid kit.

Beca’s phone chimed in her back pocket, but before she could look at it there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it!” Stacie yelled as she jumped up from the bed. It was no secret she was dying to meet the girl that had Beca so wound up lately.

“You look great,” Emily said as Beca looked at herself one last time in the mirror.

Beca gave her a tight smile through the reflection and then turned to go meet Chloe.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Stacie was saying as Beca and Emily found their way to the living room.

“Stacie, is it?” Chloe asked with her big smile and a polite handshake. “Beca’s mentioned you once or twice,” she added. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Chloe’s hair was in two loose pigtail braids that fell down around her shoulders. Beca couldn’t help but notice just how good she looked in her pink running shorts and white cutoff t-shirt that had ‘Wander Forever’ printed on the front. Her black sports bra and a portion of her tight abdominal muscles were visible making Beca’s mouth go dry.

Beca also had never noticed exactly how ripped Chloe was. The backpack on her back accentuated her biceps in a way that just wasn’t normal, and her legs were outrageously toned.

“You look cute,” Chloe grinned, pulling Beca out of her trance. “Did you get the water bottles?”

“All packed up and ready to go,” Beca nodded as she adjusted her backpack straps so that they were a little tighter.

“Please make sure she wears sunscreen,” Emily said to Chloe, earning her a small whack to the stomach from Beca. “What? You burn so easily. Remember when we—”

“Time to go!” Beca said loudly as she moved towards the door. She promptly ignored Chloe’s smug grin. “We’ll be back later.”

“Are you two going to the club with us tonight?” Chloe asked, pointing at Stacie but looking at Emily.

“Club?” Stacie asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

Beca groaned. There was a reason she didn’t mention their after plans to Stacie, or Emily for that matter.

Stacie was notorious at clubs. She knew most of the people, but somehow always managed to go home with someone new. Beca would never be able to understand how she did it, or how she had the confidence to do it.

Emily, on the other hand, could be a little much when she had a few drinks in her system. She became extremely flirty, some might even say inappropriately so, and chatty. Very, very chatty.

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Emily beamed, but then she caught a glimpse of Beca’s face. “Or… not?”

“Definitely fun,” Stacie nodded eagerly, ignoring her smaller friend.

“Great!” Chloe clapped her hands together in front of her with a grin.

“Which club are we talking?” Stacie asked. “Because last week I went to that gay bar down the street and–”

“Kay, bye!” Beca said suddenly and pulled Chloe out of the apartment.

The door slammed behind them and Beca immediately started to descend the stairs.

“She seems fun,” Chloe said from behind her. Beca could hear the grin in her voice without turning around to see it.

“She’s a hoot,” Beca deadpanned.

Chloe inviting, or asking, or whatever, Stacie and Emily to the bar wasn’t exactly what Beca planned. She had romanticized the night a little bit in her head since the initial planning took place. Maybe it was a good thing her two friends would now probably be joining them. They could at least act as a buffer when Beca surely would freeze up and become incredibly awkward.

“Does Stacie have a boyfriend?” Chloe asked as they stepped out of the apartment building.

“HA!” Beca laughed loudly before she could stop it. The idea was hilarious to her. “No, no she doesn’t.”

“Girlfriend?” Chloe went on.

Beca stopped and turned to face her then. Was Chloe interested in Stacie?

“Stacie is a free spirit. I don’t think I’ve ever known her to settle down with anyone for more than a night.”

“Oh,” Chloe nodded as she opened the driver’s side door to her car. “I was thinking if Emily brought Benji, then it could be like a triple date,” she grinned.

Beca couldn’t help but notice the relief that washed through her, but she also felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

“Date, huh?” she asked as she got into the car. She smirked just a bit at the thought of it.

“Date, friend date, acquaintance date, whatever,” Chloe told her as if it was nothing.

Beca didn’t reply. Instead, she just sat smugly in the passenger seat as Chloe drove them to their destination.

* * *

 

Chloe was unstoppable. That was what Beca kept thinking as she followed the redhead up the trail and further into the woods. Chloe was unstoppable, and she was struggling to keep up.

“Could we, um, maybe take a break or something?” Beca asked finally. She had shed her flannel, opting to tie it around her waist, and was sweating from head to toe. She felt absolutely disgusting.

“Sure!” Chloe chirped, fucking _chirped_ , from in front of her. She stopped and looked around, finally pointing to a spot just off the trail a bit. “There’s a big rock over there. Looks like a perfect place to sit.”

“Shouldn’t we, maybe, stay on the path?” Beca asked, eyeing the rock that really wasn’t that far away.

“I don’t think we’ll get too lost, Becs,” Chloe answered, giving her an all-knowing look that had Beca nodding and following her to the rock. 

They settled down and Beca drug her bag in front of them to hand out the water bottles. Chloe was sitting a little closer than absolutely necessary, but Beca didn’t mind. Even if it was, like, a thousand degrees out. Chloe’s bare thigh touching her jean clad one made her wish maybe she would have worn shorts, too.

“This is usually the time when we really get to know each other,” Chloe said breaking the silence as Beca tried to catch her breath. “You know, heart to hearts and all that.”

Beca looked over at her and how casually Chloe was leaning back. Her water bottle was on the ground now and she was propped up on her elbows. She looked so content. Beca noticed the freckles the dotted her face and the way her cheeks were a little pink from the sun.

“Is that right?” Beca asked with a slight nod. “Well, I already kind of put myself out there the night we met, so I’m going to pass.”

Chloe chuckled and Beca couldn’t hold back the small smirk that spread across her lips.

“Tell me about you,” she said as she nudged Chloe’s shoulder with her own.

Chloe seemed to consider it. Beca was genuinely curious about Chloe. She wanted to know everything. They had covered the basics the other night, but she wanted more. She always wanted more with Chloe.

“What do you want to know?” Chloe asked finally, turning to meet Beca’s gaze.

“Why veterinarian school?” Beca asked. It seemed simple enough. 

“It sounds super cliché and probably the answer so many people give, but I just love animals.” Chloe looked back out to the greenery that surrounded them. Beca kept her eyes trained on the redhead, taking in every detail that she could. “When I was little, I remember going out with my dad. We were just wandering around the house, nothing too adventurous, but we found a baby bird. The nest had fallen, it was hurt, and my heart just broke. I had to fix it.”

She stopped and Beca could see just a hint of a smile turn one corner of her mouth up. It was like she was lost in the memory.

“Did you?” Beca asked when Chloe didn’t continue. 

“No,” she giggled with a shake of her head. “Dad made me carry it to a vet, and that’s when I knew that I wanted to be able to help hurt animals. I always thought teaching was what I wanted to do. I wanted to make an impact on the children and teach them music and all that.”

“I think you would have been great at that, too,” Beca said truthfully.

“But then I thought about the animals,” Chloe said. “And that moment just stood out to me, and I knew.”

The smile that spread across her face took Beca’s breath away. She could tell Chloe meant it. Chloe seemed to mean everything, and feel everything, so deeply.

“What about you? You never told me what you do,” Chloe said, turning her attention back to Beca.

“Oh, um, I’m a producer at Residual Heat.”

“Wait, seriously?” Chloe asked, sitting up straight and almost sliding off the rock.

Beca chuckled. “Yeah, I got an internship there my last year of college and it just kind of stuck.”

“That’s awesome!” Chloe squealed. “Do you sing?”

“That is a hard no,” Beca replied with a shake of her head. “Strictly produce, or DJ on the side from time to time.”

“Any songs I may know?”

“Nope, well, there was the one song Snoop Dogg did for Christmas.”

“You produced Snoop Dogg?” Chloe asked, her mouth falling open in shock.

“No, I did a mashup for his Christmas album,” Beca specified. “I work on smaller projects and usually still just get coffee.”

“But…” Chloe stopped, mouth still open and staring at Beca. “Freaking _Snoop Dogg_.”

Beca laughed and nodded. She sometimes couldn’t even believe it. “It’s nuts, I know.”

“Tell me everything!” Chloe said and turned so she was completely facing Beca. Her hands were resting on Beca’s forearms, squeezing gently.

So, Beca told her. She started with how she didn’t even want to go to college in the first place, but her dad forced her, and she ended up not hating it _so_ much. She talked about how she met Stacie in one of her first science classes and how Emily basically tackled her on the quad (by accident of course) her senior year because she was lost and looking for her dorm which just happened to be the one Beca used to stay in. She explained that she had another close friend, Fat Amy, that traveled a lot nowadays and Beca wasn’t really sure what her occupation was. The blonde just flitted in and out of her life in the most random moments. Then there was Lilly, and Beca couldn’t even explain Lilly.

Then she told her about her internship, and how it sucked at first because she was scared she didn’t really have a voice to begin with. How mashups were her thing and DJing might have been the safer bet for her. She was still struggling with some of it, but Emily helped her a lot.

Then it was Chloe’s turn. Beca learned that Chloe actually went to the same college as she did, but they never crossed paths. Her and her best friend Aubrey were a part of an all-girl acapella group. That’s how they originally met. Jessica and Ashley came along later and joined during Chloe’s senior year. The group struggled at first, but Beca distinctly remembers seeing banners around the university celebrating their ICCA National Championship win that year.

Chloe told her all about how Aubrey almost ran the Bellas into the ground, but Chloe eventually stepped up and took the reins.

“We actually made it to the finals because of a technicality,” Chloe explained.

“That’s still pretty awesome, dude.”

Chloe looked down before continuing. “It was really hard, actually. I had never stood up to Aubrey until then. She can be…”

“Controlling?” Beca finished with an arch of her eyebrow.

Chloe chuckled. “That’s putting it nicely. She was furious with me, but it had to be done and she eventually saw that. She has a complicated history with validation and is very competitive. It all just got to be a little much for her.”

“Clearly she’s not too upset about it. You guys are still best friends,” Beca pointed out and Chloe nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Her grin lit up her eyes again.

They sat in silence for a minute or two before Beca couldn’t take it anymore.

“Can I ask you something?” Beca asked. She was feeling a little daring, and this question kept popping up in the back of her mind.

“Of course,”

“That night we met, you said you were the girl in the unhappy relationship for the longest,” Beca spoke carefully. “What were you talking about?”

Chloe inhaled sharply and only looked further away from Beca. She immediately felt bad. She shouldn’t have asked. It was stupid to put her on the spot like that.

“You don’t have to answer,” Beca quickly backtracked. “I was just wondering, but I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it’s fine,” Chloe said as she looked back at Beca. She was sporting a very forced smile. It slowly faded, as did the brightness of her eyes, when she took a deep breath and started. “I was dating this guy all throughout college. He was sweet but very possessive. He never hurt me or anything, just suffocated me to the point where I thought I _needed_ him. Which was bullshit. He held onto me so tight when I tried to distance myself. He got angry a lot, yelled a lot, but he never touched me. I guess more mentally abusive than anything.”

The fury that rose in Beca was indescribable. She wanted to hurt this guy, this person she didn’t even know, for hurting Chloe in any way. She clenched her hand into a tight fist, feeling her nails dig into her palm as Chloe continued.

“I ended it with him during my junior year. He absolutely lost it when I started to see a different guy, Tom. He actually stalked me for a while, which was nuts. Never thought I would have to get a restraining order on someone,” she mumbled. “But, like I said, all of that is in the past and I’m happy now.”

The smile wasn’t as bright as the others Beca had received throughout the day, but it was genuine.

“What was his name?” Beca asked quietly. She needed to know the bastards name.

“Felix,” Chloe answered after a moment of hesitation.

Beca felt horrible for making Chloe tell her all of that. So, she reached out and took Chloe’s hand in her own. It seemed like something Chloe would have done for Beca in the moment.

“Come on, we should probably get back to it,” Beca said pulling Chloe up after her.

Chloe grinned slightly. When Beca tried to walk them back towards their original trail, she was stopped. Chloe pulled on her hand until Beca was wrapped tightly in her arms in what she considered one of the best hugs she had ever received. And Beca didn’t like hugs.

But this was Chloe, and Beca found herself resting her head on the redhead’s chest and tightening her hold around her waist. They fit together perfectly in Beca’s mind, and that scared her.

* * *

 

Pictures were taken and posted with cheesy captions (all Chloe and mostly puns), jokes were made (mostly Beca), glances were shared (both equally), and the first aid kit had to come out when Beca scratched her arm on a particularly thorny bush.

The view though, God it was beautiful. Beca was mesmerized by the trees and how the dipped and then rose back up to create such a scene. She was above it all, looking down with Chloe standing beside her. She felt as if she were on top of the world.

“Wow,” she whispered.

She felt Chloe’s pinky hook around her own. She was learning that Chloe had no boundaries. She was all about the touchy-feely stuff. It made Beca uncomfortable at first, but then she relaxed into it.

“Beautiful,” Chloe said and Beca could feel her bright blue orbs looking at her, but she refused to look back at them. It was just too cheesy, and she honestly wasn’t sure if she could handle it all. She was on sensory overload at the moment.

“I guess hiking isn’t so bad,” Beca finally spoke. She turned to face Chloe when she was sure the redhead was facing forward, looking at the scene in front of them instead of at her.

“You’ll probably rethink that tomorrow when the soreness kicks in,” Chloe laughed.

“Thanks for bringing me up here,” Beca said as she looked over to Chloe. “I’m not much for physical activity, but this is pretty great.”

“If you’re not much for hiking, why did you agree to come?” Chloe asked in return. She was wearing a smile that told Beca she already knew the answer.

Beca wracked her brain for any explanation that didn’t make her sound utterly lame. So, instead of using words (which she knew she was horrible at) she just shrugged.

“Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad you tried something new.” Chloe squeezed Beca’s hand, still smiling at her.

Beca could easily get lost in her eyes. The way the sun was hitting her made it look as if a halo surrounded her head. She was just absolutely stunning.

Any doubts Beca had been having about possibly liking girls went out the window. She knew now she liked them. Or, she liked one in particular.

Chloe was changing her life one new thing at a time.

The revelation made her throat dry. Her mind immediately went to her family; her very conservative and religious family. Everything she had been taught growing up always seemed to nag her in the back of her mind. No matter how wrong she thought those lessons might be, or how her family in particular went about viewing them, they were still there.

She found herself pulling her hand away from Chloe’s grasp. Instead, she shoved it into her back pocket.

“Is everything okay?” Chloe asked, her face riddled with confusion.

“Um, yeah, just…” she trailed off as her tongue seemed to become too big for her mouth. “Everything’s fine.” she finally spit out a little more rushed than intended. “Should we go? Or…?”

“If you want,” Chloe answered with a nod. It was getting late in the afternoon and they still had plans tonight.

Plans that Beca was immediately trying to figure out how to get out of.


	5. I Accept

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, I don't own Pitch Perfect or the shower scene. I hope you enjoy! xoxo

The walk back down the trail and the ride to the apartment was quiet. Chloe could tell something was going on with Beca, but she wasn’t about to pressure the brunette. She didn’t know Beca all that well yet, but she knew that was a bad idea. 

They reached Beca’s apartment, empty this time, and Chloe stopped at the door.

“What are you doing?” Beca asked once she noticed Chloe hadn’t followed her in.

Chloe studied her for a second, wondering if she should say what was really on her mind.

“I feel like maybe I should go,” Chloe blurted out before she could come up with anything else. Honesty was always her best policy.

Two things happened to Beca’s face. A wave of relief washed over it, and then she looked hurt. Chloe couldn’t figure out which she should focus on more.

“Um,” Beca looked down at her hands where she was twisting a ring around her middle finger. Chloe had noticed her doing it a lot lately. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a dick. You shouldn’t feel…” she trailed off, and then inhaled sharply. “I want you to stay.” She looked as if it was something she was forcing herself to say. Chloe wasn’t sure whether or not she believed it.

“Are you sure?” Chloe asked. She really tried to read Beca’s face. She was usually pretty good at picking up on someone’s social cues, but Beca was still a bit of a mystery to her. Her eyes were looking anywhere but at Chloe. Her eyebrows were pulled together. Her mouth was slightly open as she continued to think. 

“Yeah, I was just…” Beca stopped again and took another deep breath.

Chloe noted that she was trying to get something out that was difficult to say. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She thought they had such a good day and such good moments. What had changed?

“Um, do you want to go ahead and take your shower? The bathroom is right down the hall.”

“Why don’t you go ahead? I have to run back down to the car and get my clothes,” Chloe nodded. It was clear Beca wasn’t going to say what she was truly thinking. 

Beca gave her a tight smile and then disappeared into the bathroom.   
Chloe stood there, looking at the closed door with her mind racing. She was stumped, which was odd. She was usually so good at decoding a situation and fixing it. 

The sound of the water turning on snapped her out of her daze and had her slowly moving towards the door. 

She went quickly down the steps and to her car, grabbing the clothes she had brought to change into. Once she was back, she stopped short in the living room when she heard singing. Beautiful singing.

She slowly made her way towards the bathroom where the melody was coming from. It was obviously Beca, and Chloe was stunned because she distinctly remembers the brunette telling her that she didn’t sing. It was a “hard no” to be exact. 

Chloe gently turned the handle to the bathroom door, surprised that it was unlocked, and pushed it open. She just needed to listen. Beca had the most wonderful voice she had ever heard. Chloe could never resist a beautiful voice.

She was singing  _Titanium_ , which shocked Chloe a little more. It wasn’t exactly a song she expected Beca to know or like. Considering it was Chloe’s lady jam, she felt kind of emotionally attached to the song (and physically attached for that matter). 

Before she knew what she was doing, Chloe had a firm grip on the shower curtain and was pulling it back, revealing a very naked, and very wet, Beca.

“You can sing!” Chloe said excitedly.

“DUDE!” Beca yelled and grabbed the curtain to close it again.

“You were singing  _Titanium_ , right?” Chloe asked, opening the curtain again. 

Beca turned her back to Chloe quickly, giving Chloe a good view of a couple of her tattoos. Chloe thought the equalizer bars midway down her back were fitting but made a mental note to ask about the others. 

“You know David Guetta?” Beca asked, looking over her shoulder at Chloe.

“Have I been living under a rock? Yeah. That song is my jam,” Chloe told her.

“My lady jam,” she added, leaning forward a tad. 

“That’s nice,” Beca exhaled quietly.

“It is. The song really builds,” she said with a wink.

“Gross,” Beca mumbled and pressed her forehead against the cool wall of the shower.

“Can you sing it for me?

“Dude, no. Get out!”

“Not for that reason! I’m not leaving here until you sing, so…”

Chloe rested her hands on her hips and watched as Beca thought through her options. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this, why she was being so invasive with a girl she knew would not respond well. But, Beca hadn’t actually kicked her out yet, and she looked as if she was starting to actually consider doing what Chloe asked. Something in her gut was telling her to do this, and Chloe usually liked to listen to her gut when her heart didn’t get in the way.

Chloe took a deep breath and exhaled with a small noise. Beca’s lips were pressed into a thin line as she started to turn around, arms tucked around her breasts holding her washcloth and sponge tightly. She was looking down to the floor and then up at the ceiling. Then, she started to sing.

“ _I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose_ ,”

“ _Fire away, fire away_ ,” Chloe joined.

The tightness in Chloe’s chest as the two of them sang together swelled so much it was almost unbearable. She had a tendency to fall for people a little quickly. Just one of the many burdens of being so open to feelings in the first place. But Beca… Beca was different. She had a hold on Chloe from the first night they met, instead of it loosening as all the others did as Chloe got to know them (realizing that it wasn’t actually love, but just the excitement of having someone new in her life) Beca’s grip on her was tightening. 

Once they finished, Chloe was beaming. Beca was relaxed, her mouth fixed in a small smile as she stared deeply into Chloe’s eyes, arms hanging loosely beside her body. But then she was looking up at the ceiling, sucking both lips in between her teeth as she shifted the weight on her feet and wrapped her arms back around her chest.

Chloe finally realized that Beca was still naked. Not that she ever really forgot, but she had been so caught up in the song that she kind of stopped noticing anything but the sound of Beca’s voice and the way she was looking at her.

“Oh,” Chloe said, turning to look behind her. She grabbed a robe that was hanging on the wall hook and handed it back to Beca with a smile.

“I…” Beca said quietly. “I still have to shower.”

Chloe looked at her for maybe a beat too long before she finally came to her senses and walked out of the bathroom.

**

Chloe sat at the bar as Stacie and Beca discussed something to do with Emily. Apparently, she had gone to a weird sushi place down the street from Benji’s apartment (one that both Stacie and Beca warned her not to) and now they both had food poisoning.

“She’s been texting me nonstop talking about how she feels like death and will never eat sushi again,” Stacie said to Beca, who rolled her eyes in return. “You have no room to talk,” Stacie slightly chuckled.

“Shut up, dude,” Beca hissed, cutting her eyes towards Chloe who was now interested in their conversation. 

“Beca is as bad as a man when it comes to being sick,” Stacie told Chloe in a low voice as if she was trying to keep Beca’s secret. “Last year when she got the flu, she was the  _worst_.”

Chloe grinned and looked over to Beca who’s cheeks flushed red. She was looking very attractive in her black dress shorts and black top. Her cheetah print heels were a little surprising to Chloe, but she liked them no less. 

What Chloe liked the most was the contrast she and Beca made to each other. She had dressed in a white off the shoulder dress that fell midthigh and had lace sleeves. 

“What?” Beca asked, her lips in a tight smile. 

“Nothing,” Chloe grinned. She hadn’t realized she was staring. “Do you want another drink?” 

“Um, yeah,” Beca nodded, looking down at her empty glass. “Just a beer though,” 

Chloe nodded as she got up from the table, kind of forgetting to ask Stacie if she wanted a refill. She walked over to the bar, placing the order to the very nice bartender that she thought had his eye on her. Every time she walked up he was immediately there, which was weird considering the number of people waiting to be served. 

She looked over her shoulder, back to where the two brunettes were sitting. Beca was leaning towards Stacie, talking about something that looked rather serious. Her eyes were bulging a little as Chloe could tell she was describing something. Stacie, however, was laughing. She was finding whatever Beca was telling her very amusing. Chloe would bet anything that she knew exactly what they were talking about. 

After the whole shower debacle, Beca had been a little different. At first, it was awkward. She had come out of the bathroom, the robe wrapped tightly around her petite frame, and keeping her distance from Chloe. 

But by the time Chloe had showered, changed, and was getting ready, Beca had relaxed. She was in a relatively good mood from what Chloe could tell. She didn’t understand what caused the complete turnaround, but she wasn’t about to question it. She was just glad she hadn’t tanked the entire friendship before it really even started. 

When she made it back to the table, Stacie was gone. Beca informed her that some guy had asked her to dance and that was probably the last time the two would see her that night.

“Do you dance?” Chloe asked, scooting a little closer to Beca in the booth. She told herself it was so that she could hear the brunette better, but she knew that was bullshit. She just wanted to be closer to her. 

“Not really,” Beca answered as she took a swig from her beer. “I mean, maybe if I get a little drunker or if the right person asks me…” she trailed off, looking over at Chloe with a small smirk. “But I don’t dance for just anyone.”

“It’s a good thing I ordered a round of shots for us then, huh?” Chloe grinned back as the waiter brought a tray with four shot glasses on it. He placed each individual glass on the table, gave Chloe a beaming smile, and then left. 

Beca was watching him closely, Chloe noted. Not looking like she particularly liked the way he was paying special attention to her redheaded companion.

“Bottoms up, grasshopper,” Chloe said nudging Beca’s arm with the tattoo on it. “We’re going dancing!”

Beca shook her head but took the glass anyway and waited for Chloe to pick up her own. The two clinked their poison together then downed the whiskey Chloe had specifically asked for. 

“Oh, good god,” Beca choked as the cinnamon fire hit the back of her throat. 

Chloe winced a little at the taste, but then picked up the next one. She downed it just as quickly with a stunned Beca watching her. 

“You’re going to hurt in the morning, dude.” 

“Can’t handle your Fireball?” Chloe asked with an accusing grin. 

Beca cocked her head to the side a little, still sporting that smirk that made Chloe all tingly, and narrowed her gaze. Chloe noticed the dark blue eyes flit down to her lips, then up to her hair, and finally back up to meet her icy blues.

“Which Fireball are we talking about?” Beca asked. 

Chloe’s heart flipped at the question and her smile grew brighter. Beca was drunk, or at least getting there, and it seemed that she was a bit flirty while under the influence. She had been more relaxed at the bar right after they met, but she never got too drunk. This was a different Beca that Chloe was experiencing, and she loved it. 

Beca took the other shot before Chloe could gather her wits enough to answer and downed it. She closed her eyes tightly, still adjusting to the overwhelming taste of cinnamon. 

Chloe took this chance to reach over and rest her hand on Beca’s knee, using it as support so she could lean just a tad bit closer. 

Beca’s eyes shot open and she looked over at Chloe who was now just mere inches from the brunette’s face.

“Let’s go dance and find out,” Chloe said in a low voice, but loud enough for Beca to hear over the music. 

She scooted her way out of the booth, watching Beca the entire time. After chugging the rest of her beer (liquid courage was all she needed), Beca took Chloe’s outstretched hand and followed her to the dance floor. 

The music was upbeat, and everyone seemed to be getting closer to each other. Chloe pulled Beca towards her and started to dance. They weren’t quite touching one another, but they were close.

Chloe made sure to take note of Beca’s movements. She was still trying to figure out the brunette, and the way she was stiffly moving about made her think she had pushed a little too hard too soon for this kind of dancing. But then, the music changed and so did Beca.

“We’re going to throw it back with some of these next songs,” the DJ said into the microphone. “I think you guys are going to like it!”

Everyone in the club lit up because  _Low_  started to blast through the speakers, and the way Beca threw her head back with a laugh told Chloe she had picked a good time to start dancing. 

Beca started to move more freely. Her body loosened up and she was having fun. Chloe was pleasantly surprised by how  _low_  Beca could go. Chloe herself was restricted by her dress, but she was enjoying the show. 

They were both laughing and singing along loudly when the song changed to  _Hey Ya_  and then they were both jumping along. 

The way Beca closed her eyes, grin wide and beaming, hair bouncing with each jump, made Chloe want to reach out and grab her. But she didn’t. She focused on her own dancing and matching Beca’s excitement and rhythm. 

“OH MY GOD!” Beca screamed when Beyoncé’s  _Crazy in Love_  started to blare through the speakers.  

Then Beca reached out and grabbed Chloe. She pulled the redhead close, hands on her hips, and started to sway along to the classic.

It was as if their bodies moved perfectly together out of instinct. Chloe was ecstatic. She loved to dance, and as of maybe thirty minutes ago her favorite thing was to dance with Beca. Their hips brushing each other’s sent shock waves through Chloe’s system and she was really hoping she wasn’t the only one feeling the way she was feeling. 

When the song ended, the two girls had their bodies pressed together, breathing hard, Beca’s hands still on Chloe’s hips. Chloe could feel her fingers digging into her skin just a bit as if Beca was restraining herself. 

The brunette let her forehead rest on Chloe’s, eyes closed, mouth slightly parted. Chloe let her gaze wander back and forth from Beca’s closed eyes to her lips. 

“I think I need another drink,” Beca finally spoke, moving back so Chloe was now at arm’s length away. 

Chloe was sure that Beca was about to retract, to go back into her little Beca hole and not come out for the rest of the night. But Beca was full of surprises and held tightly onto Chloe’s hand to lead her back to the bar.

“Who follows Beyoncé with Carly Rae Jepson?” Beca asked as she leaned against the bar. Call Me Maybe was now playing and people were still singing loudly and dancing wildly. 

“What?” Chloe asked, turning her body to face Beca’s. “You don’t like this song?” 

“I mean…” Beca trailed off and shrugged.

Chloe’s mouth popped open as Beca chuckled at her expression. 

“ _Your stare was holding. Ripped jeans, skin was showing. Hot night, wind was blowing. Where you think you’re going baby?_ ” Chloe sang.

“Oh, please don’t!” Beca laughed, clutching her side as Chloe jumped up and down in front of her.

“ _Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me maybe!_ ” Chloe sang, reaching out and taking Beca’s hands. “ _It’s hard to look right at you baby, but here’s my number. So, call me maybe!_ ”

“Stop!” Beca laughed as she tried to pull her hands from Chloe, but Chloe didn’t let go and ended up stumbling into Beca.

Beca was pushed up against the bar more, Chloe’s body fully pressed against her front and fingers still intertwined. Chloe held Beca’s eye contact until the brunette’s eyes looked down at her lips again. It was only a split second, but it was there. Chloe had noticed it more than once but couldn’t bring herself to step over that line just yet. 

“One beer,” the bartender said while sitting Beca’s drink down a little harder than necessary. 

“Thanks,” Beca mumbled, grabbing the drink as Chloe took a step back. She watched as Beca pressed the bottle to her lips and promptly drained half of it. 

They stood in silence until Just Dance came on. Chloe’s mouth popped open, again, and her eyes widened. 

“Here we go,” Beca chuckled as Chloe reached out, took her hand, and pulled her back to the dance floor. 

**

“I don’t think we should be back here,” Beca whispered as best she could as she leaned heavily on Chloe. 

“Shhh,” Chloe shushed, putting her finger over Beca’s lips. 

She was very drunk and so was Beca. The drinks were flowing through their system heavily. Beca’s more so than Chloe, but it was Chloe’s idea to sneak into the back of the bar just to “look around”.

“Oh my god, look!” Chloe said in a hushed squeal. She reached out and plucked a rose from a bouquet in the corner. “They’re so pretty!” 

“Stopit!” Beca hissed. “They are prolly for someone,” 

“Take my picture!” Chloe said, standing up straight (stumbling a bit, but straight nonetheless) with the rose in front of her face. 

Beca fumbled with her phone until she finally had her camera pulled up and pointed at Chloe. She snapped the picture, smiling down at her screen.

“How do I l-look?” Chloe slurred as she scurried over to stand beside Beca and look over her shoulder.

“Stunning,” Beca said looking up at the redhead. “You always look stunning.” 

Chloe looked at her then. She could smell the alcohol on Beca’s breath and could see the sweat that was just dampening her skin from all the dancing. It took every ounce of sobriety inside of her not to attack Beca’s lips in that moment. She wanted to wait until they were sober, and until she could talk to Beca about some of the things she had said the night they first met. 

“I think you should post it on Snapchat,” Chloe said, turning her attention back down to the phone. “Make our friendship official,” she grinned jokingly. She linked her arm through Beca’s and rested her head on her shoulder “Or our whatever official.”

“Our whatever?” Beca asked as she pulled up the app.

“Justpostit,” Chloe giggled and watched as Beca did so.

“Hey!” the bartender’s voice rang out behind them. They both turned around quickly. “You two can’t be back here!”

“Oops, better go,” Beca said. She grabbed Chloe’s hand and pulled her towards a back exit, away from the club. 

They were both giggling and trying their best to run with their heels and alcohol-impaired balance. Chloe still had her arm linked with Beca’s once they finally reached the street.

“I’ll get an Uber,” Beca said as she looked down at her phone again. “Wait, what should I say on the snap?” she asked, looking at Chloe again.

“Will you accept my rose?” Chloe asked her with a lopsided grin. Her eyes seemed to be getting heavier and her blinks longer.

Beca looked back down at her screen with a smile, typing ‘I accept’ as the caption and sending it off to her story. 

“Now I’ll get an Uber,” she said, and Chloe let her head fall back onto the brunette’s shoulder as they waited.


	6. Admittance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca tells Emily what's holding her back when it comes to Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, chapter 6 is short. Mostly because creatively I’ve been struggling, but also because soon I’m going to try and extend the chapters to be a little bit longer. This chapter kind of hits home for me. I’ve had this argument with a friend. I guess that’s why it’s so short. I felt it was a significant chapter where maybe you understand this Beca a little more and where her insecurities come from. Idk. I’m rambling. I ramble when I get nervous. So yeah. Chapter 6. Yay!

Beca woke up the next morning with a groan. It felt as if an elephant was sitting on her head. Her stomach turned, and she lurched up from the bed and ran towards the bathroom. She threw herself over the toilet just in time for the contents she consumed the night before to make a reappearance. 

“Jesus,” Beca groaned as she pressed her back up against the cool siding of the tub and flushed the toilet. She ran her fingers through her hair and winced a little as they caught in the tangles that were there.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she heard from the doorway. She opened one of her eyes just a crack to see Emily smiling down at her.

“Fuck off,”

“Oh, extra grumpy Beca,” Emily giggled as she sat down beside her friend. “So, how did yesterday go?” 

“What are you doing here?” Beca asked instead of answering.

“I had to get out of the house,” Emily answered. “I was cooped up all day yesterday and my mom was driving me nuts.”

Beca nodded just a little. She remembered those days of locking herself in her room or just getting out of the house, so she didn’t have to be around her parents. Didn’t matter which one she was staying with at the time, she always needed an escape. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” Emily pointed out after a few seconds of silence.

“It was fine,” Beca mumbled. She covered her face with her hands and fought the urge to throw up more. “I’m heavily regretting my decision to drink so much, though.”

“Why did you drink so much?” 

“You’re just full of questions today, aren’t you?” 

“And you keep avoiding them, so that means something’s up.”

“Nothing’s up,” Beca said sternly as she pushed herself up from the floor. She wobbled a bit, the world seemed to tip one way and then the other, but she finally managed to make it out of the bathroom and to the kitchen. Emily was right behind her.

“Beca, I like to think I know you as well as anyone can,” Emily started. “And something’s up. You’ve been acting weird about Chloe, well, weirder than usual.”

“What do you mean?” Beca asked. 

She was genuinely curious. She knew she was a bit obsessed with her new redheaded friend, but she was really hoping she had hidden it better than what Emily was making it seem.

“You’re crazy about her,” Emily said. She sat on the stool across from Beca who was now pouring cereal in a bowl. 

Beca turned and pulled the milk from the fridge, hands trembling just a bit. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Just talk to me, please.”

Beca took a deep breath and poured the milk over her Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was her favorite. She gnawed on her bottom lip and tried to work out how to play this. They had been best friends for years, and she was pretty sure Emily already had a good idea of what was going on but it still terrified Beca to no end. 

“I, um,” Beca started but she seemed to stumble over the words. She had never said them aloud. That was the first step, right? Admitting it? Coming clean? It was supposed to make you feel freer or whatever. She took a deep breath. She would just blurt it out. She could just say it and it would be out there. “I think I might be bisexual.”

Emily’s face didn’t change. She nodded slightly and then said, “Okay, and you like Chloe?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Beca replied, then shook her head. “No… I  _know_  so.”

“What are you going to do about it?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to ask her out or just let this all fester until you go crazy?” Emily quirked an eyebrow. “Because you tend to fester.”

“Shut up, I do not.” 

“Beca.” Emily’s voice was a bit lower and accusing. Beca knew she was right. 

Confronting her problems or fears was not her strong suit. Ignoring them and hoping they go away was more her speed. 

“I’m going to…” she stopped. She let her thumbs tap on the counter in a rhythm that was stuck in her head. What  _was_  she going to do? “I don’t know, dude. I just… I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” 

Beca took a deep breath. How was she supposed to explain this? Emily came from a very accepting/supportive family. Beca’s however… not so much. 

“My parents are very conservative,” Beca started. She let her spoon rest in her bowl and clutched the countertops tightly. “I could never tell them. It would crush them, they’d be so disappointed, they’d–”

“Beca, when have you ever cared what your parents thought?” Emily interrupted her. 

That hit a little hard. Beca knew she put on the façade that no one mattered and that she didn’t care about people’s opinion of her, but she did. Deep down all she ever wanted was to make her family proud, to make it big and prove she was worthy. She found at a young age that doing so was likely impossible, so she found it easier to just pretend. Pretend like their opinions didn’t matter and that everything she did was for herself. She thought maybe if she pretended long enough that it would eventually turn into her reality. It never did. She was just getting better at pretending.

But how was she supposed to explain all of that? It was complicated enough to her, much less trying to put it into words. How could she possibly explain that she blamed herself when her parents split up and the fact that her father moved miles and miles away almost killed her? Maybe if she had been a little more cooperative as a child her parents wouldn’t have fought so much. Maybe if she hadn’t fallen and broken her wrist then her dad wouldn’t have bumped into her now step-monster at the hospital. How was she supposed to tell Emily that she watched her mother go through terrible heartbreak and struggle to survive it herself, much less take care of Beca? She didn’t talk about her history or family because it was all just too much. Too much pain, too much fear, too much emotion for her. It was easier to just pack it all up into a tiny box, put on a tough face, and go on about her life. 

“I can’t explain why, but I do,” she finally spoke. Her knuckles were white from gripping the counter so tightly. Her head was pounding even more, and she was nauseous again. “I could never tell them. They wouldn’t accept it. They’d… I don’t know what they’d do,” she sighed.

“They’d still love you,” Emily told her.

“Yeah, but isn’t that all just bullshit?” Beca asked. She was getting angry. Not at Emily, but at the whole situation. “Isn’t it bullshit that they’re all, ‘We taught you better than this. You’re messing up your life. You’re making the wrong choice. But, you know, we still love you. Except now, not really. We love who you used to be before we knew. We’re going to love this new you from afar while you figure all this out’.”

She could feel her face burning with rage. She wanted nothing more than to disappear into her music for a little while.

“Do you really think that’s what they’ll do?”

“I  _know_  that’s what they’ll do, Em,” Beca told her. “My cousin came out to her family. I’ve seen how it all plays out. She’s allowed in the house, but the girl she loves isn’t. She can’t be herself around her family. She has to separate the two most important things in her life. I’ve listened to my family talk about it. I’ve heard what they have to say.”

Beca wasn’t sure when she started to yell, or tremble, or cry, but Emily was up and had her arms wrapped around her in seconds. She fought it at first, but finally, she just gave in. Emily was a pretty good hugger, not as good as Chloe, but good none the less.

“Beca,” she said quietly, stroking the short brunette’s hair back gently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s fine,” Beca sniffed as she untangled herself from Emily’s embrace. She looked back down at her cereal. “But I can’t say anything. Not until I’m one hundred percent sure. Maybe not even then.”

Emily watched her push around her cereal. She wasn’t hungry anymore. She just wanted to crawl back into bed. 

“Okay, let’s take your family out of the equation. Your dad lives around here, but you don’t see him a lot. You don’t really run the risk of seeing them out or whatever. So, say you start to date Chloe. Would you like that?”

Beca let herself imagine it for a second: getting to hold Chloe’s hand whenever she wanted, getting to kiss Chloe, getting to just be with Chloe. It was all so perfect in her head. It was a little terrifying that it could come true because then she could fuck it up.

“I would love that,” Beca answered honestly. She might as well. She didn’t have the energy to come up with a lie. 

“Then why don’t you text her, tell her that you had fun last night and that you want to see her again?” Emily asked. 

“Em…”

“Just see what happens,” Emily said. She reached out and let her hand rest on Beca’s elbow. “You deserve to be happy, Beca.”

Beca couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that a little bit. A small smirk formed on her lips when she looked back at Emily’s knowing stare. 

She pulled out her phone while she still had the guts to do it. The squeal that escaped from Emily’s lips was high pitched and loud. She jumped up and down, hand still on Beca’s elbow as the shorter brunette typed out a simple message.

**Chloe Beale**

Today 11:23 a.m.

**Beca:** I had a lot of fun yesterday

**Chloe:** Me too :)

**Chloe:** We should do it again sometime

**Beca:** Or we could do something where we don’t get all hot and sweat and gross

**Chloe:** You’re no fun :(

**Beca:** Or without bugs

**Chloe:** Hot and sweaty is what I like ;)

**Beca:** That’s not what I meant you dirty bird!

**Chloe:** I’m joking!

**Chloe:** What did you have in mind?

**Beca:** Maybe dinner? I would even consider sitting through a movie

**Chloe:** For little ole me?!?!


	7. More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get HEATED (you'll get the pun, *hopefully,* after reading the chapter) when Chloe invites Beca over for dinner.

Beca was nervous. She stood outside Chloe’s apartment, pushing and pulling on her knuckles, pacing back and forth. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she had been doing this. Long enough that the neighbor had stuck her head out to ask if everything was okay.

“Sorry,” Beca said again as the neighbor went back inside her home. 

She turned, determined, towards Chloe’s door and wrapped her knuckles against the wood before she had time to chicken out. 

She wasn’t good at this. Social situations made her nervous, especially with new people. Especially with Chloe. 

Beca didn’t have time to think too much about it before the door flew open and her breath was taken away with it. 

Chloe looked beautiful. She was wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up around her elbows. Her hair was in a sloppy bun on top of her head and she had some flour on her cheek. 

Beca grinned and reached out before she could stop herself. She let her thumb gently skim over the skin that was covered in flower until it was gone. She couldn’t take her eyes from all the freckles across Chloe’s nose. She had the urge to count them. 

“Hi!” Chloe greeted with a giggle. “I’ve been hard at work in here.”

“Is that right?” Beca asked as she walked into the apartment. The nerves that had her stomach twisted in knots eased. 

It was just as she expected. Colorful, chic, and just so Chloe. There were books stacked on the dining room table and papers, with the most elegant handwriting Beca had ever seen, tucked neatly inside of an open binder. The smell of vanilla was the first thing she picked up on. She saw a candle on the coffee table that she figured it was coming from. 

She walked further into the room and looked around. The television was off, and the yellow pillows were fixed perfectly on the white couch. A grey blanket was folded neatly over the back of the couch. She let her fingers skim over the softness of the blanket before she turned back to face Chloe.

“Sorry about the messy table,” Chloe said as she closed the door and walked quickly towards the table. She closed the binder and stacked it on top of the books before hoisting them up. “I was doing some studying,” she grinned as she scurried off with them and into another room.

The kitchen, dining room, and living room were all kind of one area. The table was rather small, but Beca thought it was efficient for just Chloe. The kitchen was another sight altogether.

The fridge was kind of retro and reminded Beca of the color of the sky. It wasn’t as blue and extravagant as Chloe’s eyes, but it was close. The counters were white, but the stove was the same color as the fridge. The pans on the stove were simmering. 

Beca wandered over to see what exactly it was Chloe was cooking. A white sauce was bubbling just a little and there was pasta in the next pan. 

She tried to focus on taking in every detail of the apartment instead of focusing too much on the fact that she was in Chloe’s apartment. With Chloe.  _Alone_. 

“I hope you like chicken fettuccini,” Chloe said coming back up behind Beca. She took the spoon and lightly stirred the sauce. “It’s pretty quick and easy and I’ve been in class all day.”

When Beca turned around, she saw that Cloe had changed. Now, she was wearing a black tank top with skinny jeans. Her hair was still up in the bun, but Beca could tell she had redone it. She still looked just as beautiful 

“Dude, I totally could have cooked,” Beca told her, but she knew it was a lie. Beca was a horrible cook. She tried. She really did. But things just never seemed to come together for her. 

She suddenly felt bad for suggesting the idea of dinner and a movie, and then not being the one to provide. She meant for them to go out, but when Chloe enthusiastically jumped on the opportunity to host the brunette, Beca couldn’t say no. 

“No! I don’t mind, I just…” Chloe stopped and took a deep breath, but the smile on her face never faded. “I totally forgot to ask what you like, and I’ve been nervous ever since I got home and kind of, well, realized that. I just wanted to make something you liked and–”

“Chlo,” Beca interrupted her rambling by placing her hand on Chloe’s forearm. The redhead looked up at her. There went Beca’s breath and train of thought again. Those big blue eyes were shining behind long lashes, and they just had this  _effect_  on Beca. “I love it,” she finally managed to get out in a semi-smooth tone.

“Oh, thank god,” Chloe exhaled. She turned the stove off and sat the spoon to the side. “Why don’t you open the wine? It’s in the fridge and the corkscrew is in the second drawer from the right.”

Beca nodded once and went to do as Chloe said. She pulled a bottle of white wine from the fridge and sat it on the counter as she started to dig through the drawer. She heard two glasses being gently sat beside the bottle as she finally found what she was looking for. 

When she looked back over at Chloe, she already had two plates of pasta fixed with little green garnishes on top. It looked amazing and Beca was suddenly aware of just how hungry she was. 

She had been nervous all day, pacing around her room, forgetting to eat, and now she was praying to the stomach gods that hers wouldn’t sound like a whale’s call or something. 

She made quick work of getting the cork out and pouring two glasses for them. She managed to balance both glasses in one hand and the bottle in the other. She kind of felt stupid for not just waiting until the glasses were on the table to pour the wine. To her relief, though, Chloe took one glass from Beca with a small smile and sat it down by one of the plates.

“This seriously looks amazing,” Beca said as she took her seat. Chloe sat across from her and smiled down at her plate as she picked up her fork. 

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the food and wine. Usually, silence made Beca uncomfortable, but with Chloe, it felt natural. It didn’t mean Beca particularly enjoyed it, but it didn’t make her want to fake a sickness or have Stacie call with an ‘emergency’ to get her out of it. 

“Do you have a test or something coming up?” Beca asked, breaking the silence.

“Hmm?” Chloe asked. She pressed her napkin to her lips where some sauce had fallen. 

“You said you were studying, right?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Chloe laughed lightly, dropping her napkin back down into her lap. “Yeah, um, we have finals coming up and I’m just kind of cramming whenever I can.”

“When’s the test?” Beca asked. She stabbed her fork through more of the pasta. 

“Next week,” Chloe answered. She reached up and pulled the tie from her hair, letting it fall down in waves over her shoulders. Beca was stunned at the effortless beauty this woman had. “I’ve been studying for at least a month though. After this semester, I’m interning over the summer at a local place then I’ll enter my third year of vet school.”

“What all does that mean?” Beca asked as she brought the pasta to her mouth.

She was genuinely interested in everything Chloe had to say. She listened as Chloe explained that she would take classes as usual during the fall semester, but that the spring semester would actually be shorter so that she could start her clinicals. She was planning on focusing on a more general mixed-animal course of study rather than just focusing on either large or small. But she had dabbled with the idea of pursuing more of the zoo medicine.

“So, you still have some ways to go before you graduate?” Beca concluded. She was pushing her bread around on her plate to soak up the rest of the alfredo sauce. She was stuffed, but she couldn’t let the good stuff go to waste. 

“Maybe a little over two years,” Chloe nodded. She put the last bite into her mouth and placed her napkin on the table beside her. “So, we’ve only talked about me. Let’s talk about you!”

“That’s really okay.” Beca shook her head and scrunched her nose at the thought. Talking about herself was not something she particularly enjoyed. 

“You said you work for a record label?” 

Apparently, it was happening anyway. 

“Residual Heat,” Beca nodded. 

“Where you produced Snoop Dogg…” 

“Where I made a suggestion for one of Snoop Dogg’s Christmas songs,” Beca corrected her. “I haven’t really done a whole lot since then. Little projects here and there.”

“Why haven’t you gotten a bigger role yet?” Chloe asked. 

Beca watched as she stood up and took both of their plates to the sink. Beca followed suit by picking up their empty glasses and following her. 

“I struggled for a little while,” Beca answered honestly. It seemed to be all she could do with Chloe. She was never this open to anyone about anything. “My boss was nice enough to wait until I could find somewhat of an original voice instead of just kicking me out,” she chuckled. Chloe didn’t seem to find it as funny.

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked as she plugged the drain. Chloe let her fingertips stay under the steady stream of water coming out to fill the sink. Beca picked up the dish soap that was sitting next to the faucet and handed it to her. 

“Throughout college I made mixes. I would take other people’s work and just mash them together. I didn’t really have a voice of my own,” Beca explained. “I mean, I put my twist on them but it’s not the same. I was one hell of a DJ, but producer?” She watched as Chloe poured some of the soap into the water causing bubbles to appear. 

Chloe turned the water off, all while watching Beca, and started to scrub the pots and pans she had used to cook. 

Beca couldn’t help but think of how funny it was that they just slipped into this domestic thing. It wasn’t weird or awkward. It felt right. Beca liked standing beside Chloe as she washed the dishes, but she needed a towel so that she could do the drying.

“Drawer to your right,” Chloe said as if she had read Beca’s mind. 

Beca opened the drawer and pulled out a towel that matched the fridge and the stove. Chloe handed her the first pot and she began to dry.

“Emily helped me get started. She’s an amazing singer and songwriter.”

“Does she ever want to do anything with it?” Chloe asked. The water was up to her forearms, but she didn’t seem to care. She just scrubbed away as Beca tried to keep up with the drying. 

“Do you want me to just…” Beca asked once she was finished with the first pot. She held it out awkwardly and looked around her for a place to put it. 

“Yeah, just lay them beside you. I’ll put them up later.”

Beca did as she said and took the next piece of cookware from her before continuing, “I think she does. She’s still in school. This is her senior year, actually. She’s majoring in Music Ed.”

“I can so see Emily being a teacher,” Chloe grinned. She looked back down and huffed a bit when a section of her hair fell down on her face. 

Beca dropped the towel and reached over to tuck it back behind Chloe’s ear. The blush that crept over the redhead’s face as she looked at her made Beca’s heart race.

“Thanks,” Chloe giggled as she looked at Beca, her eyes finally settling on Beca’s own. 

Beca coughed a bit when she realized her hand was still lingering around Chloe’s jawline just under her ear. She immediately picked the towel back up and tried to remember where they were in the conversation.

“I, um…” she remembered saying something about Emily… “Oh, yeah she’s great with kids.” Beca nodded and felt relieved that maybe that sentence actually made sense. Because the thoughts running through her brain sure didn’t.

She was thinking about how beautiful Chloe was, and how easy it was to have a real conversation with her. She thought about the fact that she was really falling hard for this girl. The one that texted her all day, every day, and made her smile even when Beca was pretty sure her day couldn’t get any shittier. The one that was her complete opposite in almost every way. She was thinking about the fact that standing there and washing dishes with Chloe Beale was something she wouldn’t mind doing every night.

And all of that scared her. 

“Becs,” Chloe said, pulling her out of her own head. 

“Yeah, sorry. What?” Beca asked. She had missed Chloe’s question entirely. Her insides were twisting again but in an unpleasant way. She was trying really hard not to freak out. 

“I asked about Stacie,” Chloe chuckled as she eyed Beca. “What does she do?”

“She’s a personal trainer,” Bea nodded. “She’s, like, wicked smart though. She was a double major in college and was in the top five percent of the class.”

“Wow, what was her other major?” 

“Chemistry,” Beca answered. “She wanted to do some type of research but couldn’t find the funding at the time… I don’t know how any of that works. I just know she trains rich, middle-aged, sweaty dudes until they look like their young and… well… still sweaty I guess.”

Chloe laughed at that, and Beca felt it fill her whole being. It washed away the fear and replaced it with a swelling sense of pride. She even laughed a little at herself, which, like, never happened. 

“I think we’re all done,” Chloe said as she handed Beca the last glass. 

Beca hadn’t even realized how much she had been drying until she looked at the pile of dishes next to her. Chloe was already on the other side of her, head now in the open freezer as she rummaged around for something.

“So, I also realized I don’t know what your favorite flavor of ice cream is.” Chloe straightened herself and looked around the door at Beca. 

“Cookies and cream,” Beca supplied for her.

“Noted,” Chloe said as she reached back into the freezer. “Until next time, I just got plain chocolate and vanilla. So, which one do you want?” 

“Chocolate,” Beca answered as if there was no question to it. She liked vanilla, but she was more in a chocolate mood at the moment. 

“Perf, grab two spoons from that drawer in the middle,” Chloe told her as she nudged the freezer door shut with her hip and started to pull the top off of the pint-sized tub of ice cream. 

Beca followed Chloe to the couch, spoons in tow, and watched as the redhead plopped down in the middle. Beca chose to sit on her left side, offering her a spoon as she settled in. 

“Which movie did you pick to torture me with this evening?” Beca asked as Chloe turned the television on.

“Um, need I remind you that this was all your idea?” Chloe asked with a smile as she turned towards Beca. “Plus, I am being generous this time and have given you three options. All completely different, but classics none the less.”

“Okay, hit me.” 

“ _Grease_ ,  _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ , or  _101 Dalmatians_.”

“I’m pretty sure that the last one is a kid’s movie,” Beca said as she stuck her spoon into the ice cream. She wasn’t prepared for Chloe to pull it back, causing her to lose her grip on her spoon and almost fling ice cream at her own face. “Dude!”

“Disney is not just for kids,” Chloe said seriously. “It is for people of all ages and it is AMAZING.”

“Okay, okay,” Beca chucked as she held her hands up in surrender. She didn’t realize what a touchy subject she was stepping into. “How about we watch  _Grease_?” She reached back out and took her spoon now full of ice cream.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you said it was one of your  _many_  favorites,” Beca grinned as she pressed the spoon into her mouth and against her tongue. The chocolatey goodness melted and tasted amazing.

“Awes!” Chloe grinned as she jumped up from the couch. She set the ice cream on the coffee table and made her way towards the television.

“Do you ever finish the whole word or…?” Beca asked as she sucked on her spoon. She was watching Chloe squat down to open a cabinet to her entertainment center. She could see the stacks of DVD’s and even spotted some VHS tapes. 

“Sorry,” Chloe giggled a bit and looked over her shoulder at Beca. “Does it bother you?”

“No, it’s cute,” Beca answered. She felt her own cheeks heat up at the words that accidentally slipped out of her mouth. She leaned forward and grabbed the ice cream, hoping Chloe couldn’t tell how embarrassed she was. 

Chloe never said anything as she pushed the DVD into the player. She just wore a smug grin as she returned to the couch and sat a little closer to Beca than she had been before. 

“Gimme,” she said as she reached for the ice cream. 

Beca let her hold it but got another spoonful to put into her mouth. She couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down her spine.

“Are you cold?” Chloe asked because, of course, she noticed. Beca was starting to think Chloe was way more observant than she initially gave her credit for. 

She had caught the redhead staring at her on and off all night. She listened like no one else Beca had ever talked to. Beca felt like, and knew, she had Chloe’s full attention when she spoke. Beca only hoped she made Chloe feel the same. Because even though she wasn’t exactly great with eye contact, she felt like she could so easily get lost in Chloe’s eyes that she had to be extra careful, but she was still listening. 

Beca looked over at her and shrugged. “Maybe a little bit.”

“Here,” Chloe said as she reached back and pulled the blanket out from behind her. She threw it over Beca’s leg and her own. Beca couldn’t help but noticed that, somehow, Chloe had managed to get even closer to her. 

Her legs were tucked underneath her, and her thigh was practically draped over Beca’s. Their shoulders pressed together. Beca couldn’t find it in her to really dislike all the contact. That was new. 

Chloe held the ice cream out with one hand so Beca could get another spoonful. Her full attention was now on the television as the characters ran around on the beach. 

Beca tried to watch the movie, she really did, but every time something would happen all she wanted was to see Chloe’s reaction. She tried to be discrete, but the way Chloe totally invested herself in the movie was adorable. She was leaning forward, the ice cream had been abandoned and was starting to melt, but neither of them seemed to care. Beca was entranced by the beautiful redhead that was pressed against her, and Chloe was engrossed in the film.

“You’re missing the best part,” Chloe said quietly without looking at Beca. 

Beca snapped her head forward to look at the screen. Her cheeks were red again, she could feel them. Chloe had caught her staring, probably knew she had been doing it close to the entire time. 

The black-haired girl (Beca thinks her name is Rizzo?) was singing a not terrible song at the school. Depressing, but not horrible. She wondered why Chloe thought this was the best part. 

Beca was about to ask when something not particularly pleasant caught her attention. It smelt like something was burning. She scrunched her nose up and turned to look towards the kitchen.

“Um, Chlo?” Beca asked. She was trying to think back to see if she could remember if Chloe was cooking something else they might have missed. 

“Yeah?” Chloe asked as she kept her eyes trained on the television.

The lightbulb went on for Beca. 

“Why did you have flour on your face when I first got here?” Beca asked as she turned to look at the redhead. 

She watched as Chloe looked confused, and then her eyes widened. “MY CAKE!” she yelled as she jumped up, threw the blanket onto Beca, and ran into the kitchen. 

Beca pushed the blanket from her own lap and followed. Chloe opened the oven door to a puff of smoke and they both coughed at the smell. Chloe handed her a dish rag and Beca immediately looked at the ceiling to locate the smoke alarm. She had burnt her fair share of things to know that it would start beeping in a few seconds. 

She finally spotted the contraption and drug a chair under it. She got up in the seat and started to fan the smoke away from the alarm the best she could while Chloe got everything under control beneath her. 

Beca looked down at Chloe with a smirk on her face. The burnt cake was sitting on the counter, completely black and deformed. Chloe was standing in front of her, her hands on her hips, looking completely defeated.

When she looked up at Beca, she almost felt bad for smiling. But then Chloe was smiling. And then they were both laughing. 

Beca hopped down from the chair and pushed it back to its place under the table. Chloe was opening whatever window she could.

“I can’t believe you forgot you were baking a cake,” Beca laughed again once they were settled back onto the couch. Both had forgotten about the movie. Chloe, in fact, was now sitting so that she was facing Beca. Still unnecessarily close, but Beca still didn’t mind. 

“I got distracted,” Chloe giggled as she leaned forward a bit towards Beca. Beca watched as Chloe’s hand rested on her arm with a gentle squeeze. She looked back up at Chloe with her grin still intact, and just studied her. 

Her eyes were actually a darker blue around the edge and they turned sparkling blue towards her pupil. It was mesmerizing to see both shades of blue stare back at her with just as much intensity, yet gentleness. The freckles that spread across her skin were lightly covered in makeup, but Beca still thought they were the cutest thing. 

“I need to ask you something,” Chloe blurted out. 

Beca looked away from her freckle covered nose and back to her eyes. She saw a hint of worry now. She furrowed her brows, confused as to what had the redhead so concerned. 

“Okay?” Beca finally answered.

She could tell Chloe was nervous. She was looking down at her hands now and had her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her foot was wiggling in no particular rhythm. Beca noted that not being able to be still was just a part of Chloe. 

“The night we first met, I told you that I was pansexual.”

“You said that you liked all the people,” Beca corrected her. 

“Okay, yes,” Chloe smirked and looked back up at Beca. “Well, I’m telling you now.”

“Alright,” Beca nodded. She could kind of see where this was going and that caused her mouth to go dry. 

“You said you didn’t know what your type was,” Chloe went on. “I was wondering if maybe you could elaborate on that a bit.” 

She watched as Chloe continued to bite her bottom lip. The redhead was searching Beca’s face, and Beca knew it, for any kind of answer. She opened her mouth to say something, but her brain wouldn’t string together the words. 

She snapped her mouth shut and clenched her jaw a bit. She wasn’t the best with words and having someone like Chloe Beale waiting for her to say something she really wanted to hear made it even more difficult to come up with them. 

“I, um…” Beca stammered but then she was at a loss again. 

She had to pull it together. She could hear Emily in the back of her mind telling her to take a chance. There was another voice in her mind, one that had been ingrained to her when she was young, telling her to run. 

Beca sat in silence and battled them both as Chloe watched. Beca felt her body begin to tremble. It was all too overwhelming. It was too much to process. 

“Becs, you don’t have to answer,” Chloe said. She rested her hand on the brunette’s arm again, and Beca wanted to melt under her touch. 

She closed her eyes and tried to take steadying breathes. The overwhelming smell of Chloe filled her senses and it seemed to put her mind in a haze. She knew what she wanted. She knew that she had a chance here (no matter how crazy it seemed to her that a girl like Chloe Beale could actually maybe like her). 

She thought back to her time with Chloe. The time they spent together had been perfect, and not in a friendly way. In a  _date_  way. The hike, the club, even the car ride that kicked off this weirdly beautiful relationship. Something had been there from the moment Beca saw Chloe at the bar, and she wanted nothing more than to act on it. 

But she was scared. 

Beca opened her eyes and looked back at Chloe. For once, she was going to swallow the fear. She was going to take a leap of faith and hope to God that Chloe was there to catch her. 

“I’ve been questioning my sexuality or whatever lately,” Beca said. “It started a while back. I just kind of started to notice girls in a way I had never really noticed them. Well, in a way I never let myself realize I was noticing them before.” 

Chloe nodded as if she understood. Beca couldn’t get a good read on what she was thinking, or where she wanted this conversation to go. She was just listening, and that was comforting yet terrifying at the same time. 

“I’ve never dated a girl,” Beca told her. “But, um…” here it goes… “I really like you, Chloe. Like. A lot. And I had been questioning things, but then I met you and I knew there was no question anymore. It was just a matter of whether or not I was going to come out or admit it or whatever.”

“Or whatever…” Chloe repeated. She was looking at Beca’s lips now. Beca tried not to let that distract her. 

“Yeah,” Beca nodded. “So, um, I guess what I’m saying is that I’m bi, and apparently you’re my type, and that’s new to me.”

Chloe nodded again, actually, Beca wasn’t sure she had ever stopped. She was chewing on her bottom lip again but in a different way. It was like she was holding herself back. 

“Okay,” Chloe said quietly. “I just wanted to clear that up before I did something stupid.”

“Something stupid?” Beca asked. 

She watched as Chloe leaned forward gently. Beca swears her heart stopped as the redhead brought her lips just centimeters from her own.

There was a little hesitation, and Beca let her eyes slide closed. It was like time stood still until Chloe’s lips were finally pressed against hers. 

They were unimaginably soft, and Beca had truly imagined this moment. She was being gentle, waiting for Beca to kiss her back, which Beca didn’t realize she wasn’t doing until Chloe started to pull away. 

Before their lips completely disconnected, Beca reached up and cupped Chloe’s face, pulling her close again so she could kiss her properly now that her senses were working again. She could feel Chloe exhale in relief as she kissed Beca a little harder and with more meaning. 

The way their bodies were positioned was a little awkward, but Beca was scared to move. Her head was turned completely to the side, her left hand resting on Chloe’s jaw. She felt Chloe’s own hands wrap around her neck to pull her closer. 

Her heart was beating faster than she thought she had ever felt it. Chloe still tasted a little like the chocolate ice cream they had been eating earlier. It was sweet and addicting. 

The feeling of Chloe’s tongue sweeping across her bottom lip sent chills all throughout her body. She opened her mouth a tad and was immediately overwhelmed by just Chloe. Pure, undiluted Chloe. 

Beca let Chloe take control. How could she not? She was an amazing kisser and Beca just prayed she was fair. 

When the two separated for some much-needed oxygen, Beca let her forehead rest against Chloe’s for a second or five before opening her eyes. She needed to wrangle in her thought. Untangle them from the knot they had become. 

When she did, she was met with Chloe’s eyes which sent those tangled thoughts into even more of a frenzy. A thousand things were running through her head and she couldn’t seem to just grasp onto one of them long enough to decode it. 

The only one she could actually make sense of was simple. 

_More._

Beca found herself honest to god smiling, tongue poking out just past her teeth a bit in a way that happened involuntarily when she was just too happy. Chloe’s smile was contagious and spreading wider the longer she looked at Beca. 

“I really want to do that again,” Chloe whispered.

Beca couldn’t speak. She just nodded and let Chloe kiss her like it was the most natural thing in the world. 


	8. Ideas

Beca woke up the next morning with an actual, genuine smile on her face. A fucking smile. That never happened. She was used to waking up and wallowing in the bitterness that usually consumed her. 

She knew, however, that the reason she woke up with a smile was right under her nose. Literally. The feel of her body pressed against Chloe’s made the smile possible. Beca’s head snuggled under her chin and arms wrapped around each other. She could feel the soft exhale of Chloe’s breathing on her skin. She could smell what little was left of Chloe’s perfume.

Beca looked up at Chloe’s peaceful face. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she did remember in great detail everything that had happened before that. 

She remembered the way Chloe had exhaled a moan when Beca pushed her back on the couch. The way her red hair felt tangled around Beca’s fingers. The way their lips felt as they absolutely devoured each other. The way she gripped desperately for any hold on the girl so that she could pull her closer. She couldn’t get Chloe close enough last night. Or now. Or ever.

Her heart beat a little faster at the thought. Her insides got a little fluttery.

_Get it together, Mitchell._

She gently unfolded Chloe’s arms from around her and tried her hardest to get up without waking the sleeping beauty. She had to untangle their legs, too. At some point, they became intertwined and leaving Chloe was not what Beca wanted to do. 

Beca froze when Chloe shuffled a bit from all the movement. 

Somehow, by the grace of God, Beca was now standing and Chloe was still asleep. She looked down at the gorgeous red hair that splayed across the pillow and at the way Chloe’s mouth parted just a bit when she was asleep, the slightest hint of a snore coming from between them. The outfit she was wearing had become wrinkled and the fabric over her stomach had shifted so just an inch of her perfect stomach was showing. Beca had to fight the urge to press her lips to the exposed skin. She just wanted every part of Chloe. 

Beca had to take a deep breath. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out how she ended up in the position she fell asleep in last night. She had to be the luckiest girl in the world. 

Finally coming to her senses, Beca looked around for her phone. She felt of her back pockets first and then her front. She spotted it on the kitchen table where she had left it after fanning the smoke detector last night. 

She checked the time and…  _fucking shit_  she was late for work. 

Beca looked around for a piece of paper, afraid that if she were to text Chloe now that the text tone would wake her, and that if she didn’t leave some kind of note she would forget to send one later and then be a dick for bailing. 

She looked around until finally finding a pad of post-it notes in the drawer by the utensils. She felt weird for quietly and very sneakily going through Chloe’s kitchen, but she had to do what she had to do. 

She wrote on the note, trying to make her words legible by any means, and then walked over to Chloe. 

She couldn’t think of where to stick it so she was sure Chloe would see it. She didn’t know the redhead’s routine. She didn’t know what she did as soon as she woke up, which is when Beca wanted her to see the note. She didn’t want Chloe to feel any doubt about her or the night they shared. 

So, as any rational person would do, Beca placed the note where she was absolutely  _sure_  Chloe would never miss it.

**

The first thing Chloe noticed when she woke up was a certain  _lightness_. She distinctly remembers Beca falling asleep on top of her the night before and had absolutely loved how well they fit together. They had made out. A LOT. It felt like minutes, but they both knew it had been hours. Chloe’s lips were a little tender from the excessive kissing, but she just couldn’t get enough of that girl last night. 

So yeah…  _that happened._

The second thing she noticed was when she opened her eyes that something was kind of blocking her view. She furrowed her brows and felt something move with them. She reached up and pulled a post-it note from her forehead and saw that it had what she assumed was Beca’s scrawled handwriting on it: 

**Sorry I had to leave. Work sucks. I had a great time last night. Text me when you’re up.  
xoxo, Beca**

Chloe grinned to herself and pressed the note to her chest as if she was hugging it. She could almost still smell Beca from the night before. 

When she closed her eyes to imagine it, she could feel her hands tangling in Beca’s hair. Beca’s hands pulling her closer by bunching up her clothes. She could feel the pressure of Beca’s lips, taste Beca’s tongue…

_Beca, Beca, Beca…_

She opened her eyes quickly and looked back down at the note. Her breathing was a little heavier just thinking about everything that had happened last night. She had never had anybody work her up so much just by kissing her. 

She held the note in one hand while rereading the four little sentences over and over again as her fingers from her open hand trace over her lips. She bit down on her bottom lip, suddenly aware that she was practically drooling over last night’s activities and realizing that she wanted more

Finally, she sat the note down gently on the coffee table and went to search for her phone. She couldn’t remember the last time she had it, but eventually found it on the counter beside the dishes she had yet to put up. 

Chloe unlocked her phone and pulled up the message thread between her and Beca. The last thing said between them was Beca texting Chloe to let her know she was on her way last night. Chloe had replied with an enthusiastic, ‘Yay!!:)’ and left it at that. 

Now, though, she wanted to be clever. She wanted to make Beca think of last night the same way she had been since waking up. She paced the kitchen, biting at her thumbnail as she thought. 

Surely it wasn’t that difficult. She should just shoot her a text, letting her know she was awake and that she had enjoyed last night, too. 

“This is stupid, I should just say something,” Chloe said to herself.

She finally started typing:

 **Beca Mitchell**  
Today 10:22 AM  
 **Chloe** :  _You could have just texted me like a normal person you dork._  
 **Chloe** :  _Or just gotten me up… but I really love the letter and will keep it forever because I had a great time last night too ;)_

Chloe read over the messages she had chosen to send. Were they too much? She wasn’t really sure how to handle Beca just yet. It was all still new, and she was afraid of scaring the girl off. 

Luckily, a knock on the door pulled her out of her own thoughts before she could freak out over them too much. 

“Oh, good. You’re still alive!” Aubrey said, in an almost threatening tone as only Aubrey could, when Chloe opened the door. Chloe looked at her, confused when Aubrey gestured toward Chloe’s hand that was holding her phone. “I only texted you nine thousand times last night and tried calling twice this morning.”

Chloe looked down at her phone as her best friend came in. She hadn’t even noticed all the missed texts or notifications. All she was worried about was replying to Beca this morning. 

“Sorry, I was busy,” Chloe said as she scrolled through what she thought was probably close to twenty texts from Aubrey. “Wait… ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Chloe practically yelled when she was about halfway through the messages, where Aubrey had given up on having Chloe call her and just told her the news through a text. She reached out and grabbed Aubrey’s forearm in excitement.

“Yes!” Aubrey replied although, Chloe noted, with fake enthusiasm. 

The messages said that Aubrey had received a call from none other than Gail and John, the two a capella announcers that tended to show up in random places and contact some of the former Bellas at least once a month. The two wanted Aubrey to gather some Barden Bella alumni and make a sort of a capella supergroup for a charity event coming up. 

“This is so exciting!” Chloe said as she jumped up and down. “I’ll call Jessica and Ashley, and then Cynthia Rose. Oh! That Flo girl was really good, right? She started a year or so after we graduated? I met her a few times through Jessica and Ashley… There was a beatboxer named Lilly, too. Jessica said she was kind of strange but-”

“Slow down there, tiger.” Aubrey placed both of her hands on Chloe’s shoulders. “I’ve already talked to all of them because, unlike you, they answered last night. We’re about three people short of a full team, though. Or at least as full of a team as we used to have.”

“What do you mean? There are plenty of Bellas to make a full squad.”

“Not everyone was as ecstatic as you are about this reunion of sorts,” Aubrey explained. “A lot of them moved on. They live in different states and have families or are too old to perform anymore. They don’t have time for practice and then performances.”

“Wait… performances? As in, plural?” Chloe asked. 

Aubrey nodded. She sat down on the couch before continuing, “Gail said that this fundraiser is just the beginning if we want. Barden is trying to make a name for itself again in the a capella world. They tried the sports route and that clearly didn’t work.” She and Chloe had both heard about the football disaster of 2014. It was cringeworthy just thinking about it. “We were the last Bellas to win the ICCA’s, so they’re reaching out to us.”

Chloe shook her head as she tried to process this. “I’m so confused,”

“Me too, and trust me, Gail’s explanation doesn’t help,” Aubrey chucked. “Something about the a capella world is struggling since that German group in 2015 basically took it over and she fully believes we could, and I quote, ‘grab it by the balls to wake it up’ or whatever. She was very adamant that we at least perform at the fundraiser.” 

“We can do that,” Chloe nodded while sitting beside her best friend. Her mind was whirring, already trying to figure out how to juggle the Bellas on top of the internship she was planning on doing this summer. Aubrey had that look on her face. The one she saw when Aubrey was about to go into a big test in college, or when she was trying to get basically anything in order. The one that Chloe knew so well. “What?” 

“I want at least ten girls,” Aubrey told her. “That’s how many we won with our senior year, that’s how many we were used to working with.” 

“There are no current Bellas at Barden to join?” 

“Nope,” Aubrey shook her head. “Well, there are but… trust me. We should just stick to alumni.” 

Chloe grimaced. She felt her phone vibrate in her hand. She had almost completely forgotten about Beca. But the girl’s name popped up on her phone and Chloe’s heart soared.

 **Beca Mitchell**  
Today 10:39 AM  
 **Beca** :  _Glad you found it. I was worried you’d miss it ;)_

Chloe grinned down at her phone and rolled her eyes. 

“You have that look,” Aubrey said, pulling Chloe’s attention away from her phone.

“What look?”

“That look that says you’re totally smitten,” Aubrey grinned. “Who is it? Guy or girl? I need all the details.”

Chloe’s grin spread even wider across her face. “Girl, and her name is Beca. She actually went to Barden and…” Chloe trailed off as an idea struck her. “Does it  _have_  to be girls that used to be a part of the Bellas?” Chloe asked. 

“Um, I mean, I never really asked… I just kind of assumed,” Aubrey answered. A look of confusion was on her face as Chloe just smiled at her. “Would you just tell me?!”

“What if I told you I could maybe possibly have two more girls to add to the group? One is an alumnus, and one is still a student.”

“Honestly, I don’t think Gail would be that picky. John, however…”

“I’ll talk to John if I have to!” Chloe supplied. Her mind was racing. She was sure she could get maybe Emily to help, but Beca would be a whole other situation.

**

“No way,” Beca said as she shook her head and walked into her kitchen. “I’m not doing this.”

“Please, Becs,” Chloe begged. She followed her and watched as Beca pulled out a beer. She offered Chloe one, but she shook her head. She wanted to keep a clear mind if she was going to convince Beca to join the Bellas. 

Aubrey had called Gail, who jumped at the idea of adding anyone that would make the return even better. Aubrey assured her that they would be in tip top shape no matter how many girls they had, but Gail agreed that having the same number as they did when they won the ICCA’s was a “fabulous!” idea. There were no rules saying that they had to be a part of the Bellas in college, just an alumnus of Barden University. The fact that there were rules shocked Aubrey altogether (in fact, she was pretty sure Gail was just making them up as they went), but then again, she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure what they were getting into. 

Beca studied Chloe for a second, looking from one icy blue eye to the other. She let her gaze travel down to her nose where her freckles were mostly covered by makeup, then down to her lips that were shiny with gloss. 

“I’m not singing in an a capella group,” Beca said finally, looking back up to meet Chloe’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but that’s just not what I do.”

Chloe rested her hands on her own hips and gave Beca a glare. “Come to one practice,” Chloe bargained. “Just come and watch and see what you think.”

Beca thought about it. It wouldn’t kill her to just watch and then assure Chloe that she wanted nothing to do with the Bellas. 

Before she could agree (because of course, she was going to agree… it was  _Chloe_  for crying out loud), Emily and Stacie walked in.

“I just don’t see how it’s possible for you to bend that way. Doesn’t it…” Emily trailed off when she saw Chloe’s eager face, best smile beaming, looking at her. “Oh gosh, what happened?”

“Nothing!” Chloe said.

“Brace yourself,” Beca mumbled as she took a swig from her beer bottle. Chloe shot her a look over her shoulder, which Beca shrugged at before the redhead turned back to the two girls standing in front of her. 

“I was wondering if you would be interested in joining the Bellas,” Chloe said simply. Emily furrowed her brows. “It’s an all-girl a capella group that I used to be a part of in college. The A Capella Association wants us to reunite for a fundraiser to help the College of Arts. If things go well there, then they want us to do some other stuff to get a capella back on the map at Barden and maybe hopefully just in general.”

“Shouldn’t you get–I don’t know–girls that were actually a part of the group?” Stacie asked as she looked between Beca and Chloe. 

“We have me and six other girls. There’s Cynthia Rose, Lilly, Jessica, Ashley, Aubrey, and Flo.”

“That sounds like a pretty full team.”

“It is,” Chloe nodded. “But Aubrey wants ten girls. That’s how many we won with our senior year and how many she’s comfortable working with,” Chloe explained.

“What have you gotten so far?” Emily asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Chloe expectantly. Beca wondered when this became more like a business transaction. Everyone was so serious about this a capella crap. “Like, range wise.” 

“Um, Jessica and Aubrey are sopranos, Cynthia Rose is a mezzo, Ashley and Flo are altos, Lilly beatboxes, and then I’m bass,” Chloe explained excitedly.  

Beca choked on her drink a bit. Did she just hear Chloe correctly? “Wait,” she coughed while wiping what drink had escaped her lips and dribbled down her chin away. “I’m sorry, you’re a what?”

“Bass,” Chloe nodded and grinned as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I don’t get it,” Stacie spoke up. 

Chloe cleared her throat a bit and then hit a low note that made it sound as if a big burly man were in the room. All three girls watched her, wide eyes and mouth open. Beca quickly snapped her mouth shut when Chloe looked back to her, but she couldn’t hide the surprise she was feeling.

“Shit dude,” Beca said quietly. She couldn’t believe  _that_  sound just came out of  _that_  girl.

“I was not expecting that,” Stacie mumbled as she looked at Emily.

“I had nodes my senior year and when they removed them is effected my voice,” Chloe explained with a wave of her hand. Beca couldn’t help but think of how painful that must have been. “Back to the present, Emily, are you in?” 

Emily looked past Chloe to Beca who just shrugged. It was totally her decision. Beca wanted nothing to do with it. She could see the moment Emily made her decision though because her eyes lit up and a  smile spread across her lips. 

“I’m in,” Emily nodded confidently.

“Me too,” Stacie spoke up. All of the attention shifted to her. She folded her arms over her chest and put her weight on one hip. 

“I’m sorry?” Chloe asked. 

“I said I’m in,” Stacie nodded. “I’m a mezzo, so yeah. Let’s do this.”

“Dude, you sing?” Beca asked as she sat her beer down on the counter. Today was just full of surprises for her. 

“Um, yeah. It was my special talent in all the pageants my mom made me be in,” Stacie explained. She had a grin on her face because  _of course_ , Beca thought,  _she was in pageants and probably kicked ass while doing so. Forced or not._

“Becs, are you sure you don’t want to just join now?” Chloe asked with a grin. She was hopeful Beca could see it written all over her face. 

“I’m positive,” Beca nodded. There was no way in hell she would become a Bella. “I’ll watch one practice, and then I can assure you I will still want nothing to do with it.” 


	9. Girlfriends

Chloe was nervous. She never expected Beca to shoot her down so quickly, but then again, she wasn’t really sure what to expect. Beca obviously didn’t enjoy singing in front of people, even though she was amazing at it, and Chloe just didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to share that gift. 

The conversation had happened only a few hours ago, and Chloe was still trying to figure out a way to convince Beca to join. It had been on her mind nonstop. Well, not just that. To rephrase,  _Beca_  was on her mind nonstop. 

They had made out for hours but hadn’t talked about it. They had each said some pretty personal things since meeting one another but neither had talked about it. Chloe was a talker. She loved to talk things out. She was also a toucher. She loved to be touching whoever she was with or crushing on. It made her feel good. It was hard for her to explain to anyone who didn’t just understand. 

But Chloe knew Beca wasn’t really the touchy-feely type or the talkative type for that matter. She had figured that out so far. Although, there seemed to be something about Chloe that brought those walls down for Beca. She had opened up to her more and even let Chloe hold her hand right after they first met. What was that all about?

And they kissed. Actually  _kissed_. Like, in a way that could have led to more, but neither wanted to push the boundaries. Chloe wanted to cross that line. She wanted to completely erase it all together and just be with Beca all the time, touching and feeling and talking and kissing. 

Her mind was in overdrive and every single thought consisted of Beca.

Except, she was totally ignoring what Beca was saying so she could think more about Beca. Which was weird, but still. Chloe had zoned out completely and Beca had absolutely noticed. 

“Dude, are you even listening?” Beca asked with a small smirk on her face. She nudged Chloe’s shoulder with her own. 

The two girls were sitting on Beca’s bed with no distance between them. Chloe had scooted over so close that the side of her body was pressed against Beca’s. She still couldn’t get over the fact that she was allowed to do this. 

Chloe looked over at the brunette and raised her eyebrows in response. No, she hadn’t been listening. She had been thinking of Beca joining the Bellas, which led to Beca singing, which led to Beca in the shower, which led to... 

“I was saying, I think we should maybe go on a proper date sometime.”

Chloe really hated that she had missed that part of the conversation because Beca looked extremely nervous and way out of her wheelhouse. She was twisting the ring around on her pointer finger which Chloe had come to notice as a sign that Beca was uncomfortable. 

So, to maybe ease the nerves, Chloe reached out and took Beca’s hand in her own. The coolness of the ring being pressed between her own fingers made a chill run down her spine. She loved feeling every little bit of Beca’s presence. 

“I would love to,” Chloe smiled. She gave Beca’s hand a squeeze. 

Beca smiled at her. It was a beautiful smile. It was genuine, Chloe could tell, and it seemed to light up Beca’s dark eyes. When she closed her lips to hide her teeth, the smile was somehow even more adorable. It was kind of like a smirk now. The one that Chloe knew would get her to do almost anything. 

Beca turned away from Chloe, looking back down at the laptop sitting in front of her. She was clicking around with her free hand now, not daring to take her other away from Chloe’s grasp.

Chloe let her head rest on Beca’s shoulder. She was watching her do something on a digital mixing board. She had one earbud in and Chloe could hear the faint sound of a beat being played. She wanted to know what Beca was doing, and how she did it, but she also didn’t want to bother her. 

“You know I wasn’t trying to be mean when I told you that a capella wasn’t my thing, right?” Beca asked out of the blue.

Chloe shifted her head so that she was looking at Beca’s profile now. Her lips were parted just slightly, and she was concentrating really hard on the screen. Chloe reached up and tilted Beca’s chin towards her so that the brunette was forced to make eye contact.

A grin spread over Chloe’s face as she took in her beauty. Beca’s eyes were serious but there was a lightness to her features. The way Beca looked at Chloe made her heart flutter a bit. She watched the dark blue eyes skim down her face to her lips, then up to her nose, and finally back to her eyes. 

“I know,” Chloe said simply. “I get it, it’s a little weird. I mean, we make music…” Chloe stopped for dramatic effect. “With our mouths.” 

“Hmm,” Beca chuckled at that. “I think I could think of some better uses for your mouth.”

Chloe’s mouth fell open. She was surprised at Beca’s forward flirtation, but she also loved it. 

“Beca Mitchell!” Chloe exclaimed as she sat up a little more. “What are you implying?” 

Beca grinned widely as she took her earbud out and pushed her laptop to the side. She moved so that she was straddling Chloe. Chloe’s breath hitched in her throat as she felt Beca settle down on her. 

“I think you know,” Beca said quietly as she brought her hands up to cup Chloe’s face. 

Before Chloe could say anything else, Beca’s lips were pressed against hers and her tongue was in her mouth. Beca was being very forward and it made Chloe tingle all over. 

She grabbed a hold of Beca’s shirt, pulling the brunette closer to her. She could feel Beca’s hips move just once, involuntarily, against hers and it definitely had Chloe on edge faster than she cared to admit. 

It took every ounce of Chloe’s self-control not to flip Beca onto her back and have her way with her. She didn’t want to move too fast. Beca had just kissed her for the first time yesterday, kissed a  _girl_  for the first time yesterday. Chloe wanted to do this right and to make sure Beca was ready.

But Beca was making it hard. The way her tongue caressed Chloe’s and the way she sighed into the kiss whenever Chloe would pull her close again… it was too much for her to comprehend. Beca had a good grip on her neck, hands on either side, gently letting her thumb slide over Chloe’s skin. 

She couldn’t take not having control anymore. Chloe quickly and expertly flipped Beca so that she was on her back. She wasn’t going to take it further, but the look on Beca’s face when she looked up at Chloe definitely made her think about it. 

She settled between Beca’s legs and dipped down to reconnect their lips. She held herself up, thankful for the extra pushups and workouts she did to make it possible so that she wouldn’t squish Beca. 

Chloe gasped when she felt Beca’s hand slip under her shirt and settle on the small of her back She only let it stop her for a second, taking a deep breath to calm herself before kissing Beca again. 

Beca’s fingernails scratched across Chloe’s skin, sending goosebumps scattering all over her body. A particularly uncomfortable warmth had settled between her legs and Chloe was dying for a just a little bit of relief.

But she wouldn’t dare do anything without talking to Beca first. That was her main priority. She would kiss Beca all day long. She would squirm and fight her urges because she hoped it would eventually all pay off. She would do nothing to make Beca uncomfortable, but when the time was right she would do everything to make Beca scream her name. 

Chloe had to push the thought from her mind. 

“Short sta- WHOAH!” Chloe heard as the door to Beca’s bedroom slammed open. 

Her initial reaction was to push off of Beca quickly, so she did. She stood beside the bed, as she took note of a blonde girl standing in the doorway. 

“AMY!” Beca yelled as the girl looked between the two of them. 

“Sorry! My bad!” the girl, apparently Australian, apologized as she backed out of the room. “I’ll just be out here!”

Chloe watched the door close as she took notice of her own state. She was breathless, and her mind was whirring, and the sight before her when she turned back around didn’t help.   

Beca laid there, propped up on her elbows with her legs slightly parted from where Chloe had vacated them, lips tented red with the kiss, and hair just a tiny bit mussed from Chloe’s actions. She was breathless, too. Her chest moved quickly as she brought her gaze back to Chloe. She had a hint of annoyance in her eyes, but Chloe was sure she saw it vanish when they locked on hers. 

Chloe wanted nothing more than to crawl back onto the bed and finish what they had started. She could see that Beca was considering it, too. The way the brunette’s eyes traveled up and down her body. Chloe was sure she wasn’t hiding her desires like she initially hoped to. 

“So, that’s Fat Amy?” Chloe asked, breaking the silence. It probably wasn’t the best thing to say or do, but the tension was thick, and she had to do  _something_  to cut it. 

Beca groaned and brought her hands up to cover her face, causing her body to fall back on the bed in annoyance. Defeat? Chloe couldn’t really tell. All she knew is that Fat Amy may have saved her from making a huge mistake before Beca was ready. 

**

Chloe left not long after that. Beca was still annoyed at the fact that Fat Amy had just barged in. Then again, she wasn’t sure what else to expect. That seemed to be a hallmark of Amy’s personality along with being completely unreliable in most situations.

“Sorry about that, short stack,” Amy said as the door closed behind Chloe. Beca turned on her heels, pressing her back to the wood. She let her head fall back with a thump.

“It’s fine,” Beca mumbled. Because truthfully, maybe it was. Things were getting hot and heavy, and she wasn’t sure she was quite ready for that. Even when her body was screaming for her to take the leap, her head was telling her to slow the fuck down.  

“So…” Amy said awkwardly. “You’re into girls now?”

“Um, yeah,” Beca answered. “It’s kind of a new thing.”

“Cool,” Amy nodded. Beca could tell she wasn’t really sure what to say. The Australian also tended to say the wrong things at the wrong time, and the fact that she was being considerate enough to hold back meant a lot to Beca. 

The silence stretched out until Beca thought maybe Amy had suffered a stroke or something. She was never quiet for that long. Ever.

“So, you’re a lesbo?”

“I’m bi, Amy,” Beca exhaled as she ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Twice the fun!” Amy exclaimed.

“Oh my God,” Beca groaned. 

“Good for you, shorty.”

“What are you doing here, Ames?” Beca asked, trying to change the subject quickly. “I thought you were in Prague.”

“I was, but I got bored, so now I’m here.” 

“What exactly do you even do?” Beca asked. 

She could never figure out that part of Amy’s life out. In college, she was normal… well… okay, normal was a stretch. She definitely wasn’t as secretive. Then, after graduation, she did some kind of sideshow called Fat Amy Winehouse. Beca didn’t think she made a lot of money off of it, but maybe she did? Because one day, she told Beca she was going to travel the world and off she went.  

Amy mumbled something under her breath quiet enough for Beca to not be able to hear it. It was the usual response Beca got. She was starting to think Amy was a part of some secret organization or something. 

“Okay, well, I have some more work to do. You know where everything is, and your room is still made up,” Beca told her. Before walking past her friend, she stopped and looked down at her. “I’ve missed you, or whatever,” she mumbled and then went back off to her room. 

**

 **Chloe Beale**  
Today 11:21 PM  
**Chloe** :  _Is it crazy that I can’t stop thinking about you?_  
**Chloe** :  _Because if it is, then that’s totally not what I’m doing…_

Beca smiled down at her phone. Her eyes were burning from staring at her computer for hours and hours. She was just about to lay down for the night and try to sleep, but now she would have to stay up. There was no way she was going to fall asleep on a sweet, sentimental Chloe. Even if that wasn’t exactly Beca’s cup of tea.

 **Beca** :  _Everyone’s a little crazy, Beale.  
_**Beca** : _but I’m totally thinking of you too so we can be crazy together  
_**Chloe** : _:)_  
**Chloe** :  **So this date you mentioned…**

The date. The date Beca was so nervous to ask Chloe on or even really attempt to plan. She wasn’t really good at the stuff. 

She let her hands hover over the keyboard. What was she supposed to say? She knew she wanted to take Chloe out, which as a big deal for Beca. She wasn’t exactly  _out_  yet, not to her family. Her friends knew. Well, Amy knew. Stacie and Emily still hadn’t been filled in on all the blissful details of the last two days. 

The thought of how quickly she had gone from not being sure about her sexuality to very sure was crazy. All it took was Chloe looking at her, speaking to her, kissing her… just Chloe really. She had made Beca so sure, and Beca was certain that she didn’t want to stop kissing Chloe and that it was one million times better than kissing Jesse.  

 **Chloe** :  _Becs… either you’ve been typing for ten minutes or youre freaking out._

Beca smiled a bit because of course, Chloe was already starting to figure her out and she wasn’t even her girlfriend yet.  _Girlfriend_. Holy shit. That was… wow. 

Beca dropped her phone onto the bed and got up. She needed to think. She needed to figure out what she was doing. She had just been living in the moment since that hike. She really liked Chloe. Like, way more than she already should. 

Her phone vibrated again but she didn’t want to look at it. Instead, she grabbed her headphones and put them around her neck. She plugged them into her phone, strategically avoiding the message Chloe had just sent and started to play her music. 

“Amy,” Beca called as she exited her room. Her friend was nowhere to be seen. Beca assumed she was in the guest room getting ready for bed or possibly out of the apartment completely. 

She left, put the headphones over her ears as she descended the steps and started to walk down the street. The music blaring was therapeutic. It tuned out the world around her but helped her think at the same time. She switched her phone to ‘Do Not Disturb’ and dropped it back into her pocket. She just needed music. Nothing else to distract her.

She focused on only one thing and that was Chloe. She thought about how she felt when she was around her. How she felt safe and calm in her presence, but also flustered and overwhelmed. She thought about the way Chloe kissed her tenderly, which turned into hot and heavy, which led Beca’s mind to unspeakable places. She bit her bottom lip. Beca liked that thought a lot. Enough to know that she never wanted it to stop. 

 _That_  thought scared her. The whole forever feeling she got when she was around Chloe. She had known the girl for less than a month, and she was falling head over heels. That wasn’t what Beca did. Beca was a loner. She had made it that way with only three exceptions, well now four apparently. She was turning into a softy around Chloe. The walls she spent so long building were crumbling down.

The walls she built because of her family. Beca had spent her entire life trying to make them proud and win their approval. Her dad had never supported her dream of becoming a producer, even when she landed the amazing internship that turned into a permanent position. Although she wasn’t doing exactly what she wanted to do, she was making progress. 

Her mom, however, was on Beca’s side usually. Not always, but usually. Beca was a lot like her mother. They were both more closed off and that made it hard for Beca to really know exactly what her mom was thinking. It was kind of ironic, actually. She knew she did it to everyone else around her and just how frustrating it could be, yet she continued to do it. 

Her grandmother would never understand. The woman was too set in her religious ways, which made it hard for Beca. Her grandmother, or Gramgram as Beca called her, had basically raised Beca after her parents split. She spent many nights with her, went to church with her, and learned some of life’s most basic lessons from her. Beca saw now, though, that those lessons were doused in religion. She had come to form her own opinions on how things should be handled and the way the world works. 

She kept those opinions to herself though around her family. She was already the outsider for the most part, different than everyone else. She didn’t want to add the controversial opinions she had or put forth the energy to fight the argument that would definitely follow. None of it was worth it to her. She knew she wouldn’t change their mind and it would only upset them all. 

That’s how she felt about coming out, too. She hadn’t even had time to really think about it, but she knew it was something she wanted to avoid. She lived her life quite happily without discussing her romantic life with her family. Why change that now? 

Yes, they always pressured her to find a “man that could take care of and support her” or whatever, but Beca had been working on battling that for a while. She told them any chance she could that she didn’t need a man or anyone else in her life for that matter. She was just fine on her own and would make it one way or the other. They didn’t like that very much. 

Settling down really never appealed to Beca. She saw how easily it could all fall apart, and she wanted nothing to do with that. The pain and suffering her mom went through absolutely did not appeal to her. 

That could change though. Everything else seemed to be changing. Why not that, too? 

Beca looked up from where she had been staring at her feet as they moved along the pavement. She recognized the building she was in front of. She also recognized the redhead that was coming down the front steps of the building in a hurry. 

When Chloe looked up, she almost bumped into Beca. Her eyes were wide, and she looked worried. Her hair was down, and her curls were bouncing with each step she descended. She was still in her pajamas, pink short shorts and a white tank top that made her look absolutely adorable in Beca’s opinion. The amount of skin showing was a bit distracting as well.  

Beca pushed the headphones until they were hanging around her neck. The look on Chloe’s face was a mixture of confusion, worry, and maybe just a hint of anger. Beca had a feeling she knew what about, too.

“What are you doing here?” Chloe asked as she came to an abrupt stop in front of Beca.

“I, um,” Beca looked around. She wasn’t really sure how she got here. She was just walking, not really paying attention to the turns she was taking. Her body just kind of carried her here. “I was just out for a walk.”

“I was just about to come to see you,” Chloe said quietly. “You weren’t answering my texts. I got worried that I said something wrong or–”

“You didn’t,” Beca told her. She reached out and took Chloe’s hand. God, that was the last thing she wanted Chloe to think. “I just… ugh, I don’t know how to say it.”

Beca looked down at her feet again and caught sight of her fingers intertwined with Chloe’s. The way Chloe’s thumb was gently running over hers made her happy. Happier than she had felt in a long time. Why was she so scared of that?

“You don’t want to be with me,” Chloe said sadly. 

Beca’s head snapped up and she could see the tears forming in Chloe’s eyes. 

“What? No! That’s not…” How could she possibly think that? Then again, how could she possibly  _not_  think that? Beca was such a dick. She shouldn’t have ignored her. She should have just told her how she felt. She needed to fix it. “I do. I do so much, Chlo. That’s what scares me.” Beca’s heart was pounding. 

Chloe just looked at her. Those ice blue eyes were fixed onto Beca’s. She needed more. Beca knew she was confusing. She was confusing herself.

Beca gave Chloe’s hand a squeeze and pulled her closer. She grabbed her other hand so that they were now completely facing each other. This was it. She had to tell her. They had to work this out because the thought of losing Chloe Beale was too awful. 

“Can we go up to your apartment? I don’t really want to talk out here,” Beca said.

Without hesitation, Chloe was pulling her back up the steps of her apartment building. Beca stumbled a bit to keep up, but the grip Chloe had on her hand was unwavering. 

Before she knew it, they were up the three flights of stairs and sitting on Chloe’s couch. Chloe had dropped her purse by the door and Beca was now sitting nervously in front of her. 

“Okay, so…” Beca started. 

It was best if she just didn’t think about it. Just talk. That’s what she was going to do. Maybe it would help if she closed her eyes? But that would be weird. Yeah, she would definitely keep them open. 

“My family is not at all accepting of the LGBT community. So, my whole life I’ve been brought up in the religious strict no gay policy. It was bad. It was a sin. All that shit. I mean, once I was out of the house and could actually figure things out on my own, I saw how wrong that was. I know how wrong their opinions are, and not just on that issue. Basically everything. I don’t want to get into the whole religion versus God thing, but that’s just how they are. So, the chances of me coming out to them are slim to none because I just don’t think I could handle all of that, you know? Unless I find someone that’s completely worth it. And what scares me the most is that I’m starting to maybe think that you could be? Because, like I said before, I like you a lot. Way more than I probably should. And this is all just moving so fast and my feelings are just so fucked up and I can’t… I can’t seem to really figure out what’s happening in my head. All I know is that I want to be with you because you make me happy and I’ve never had anyone make me as happy as you do and it’s all just freaking me out. Because really there’s so much that you don’t know about me, but I want you to know and I’m sure you’ll learn it all pretty quickly because–”

Beca was interrupted by a hand over her mouth. Chloe was looking at her, eyebrows raised, trying to take in all the information that had just been hurled at her. 

“Babe, you’re rambling,” Chloe said quietly and with a tiny smirk. “It’s cute when you ramble, but I’m going to need a second to just process.”

Beca nodded with Chloe’s hand still over her mouth. She watched as Chloe’s twinkling eyes studied her and her hand slowly dropped down and took its place back in Beca’s. 

“So, you want to be with me?” Chloe asked, finally breaking the silence that was slowly killing Beca. 

“Um, yes,” Beca nodded. She watched as the smile that broke across Chloe’s lips widened. It caused Beca to smirk in return. “Do you, um, do you want to be with me?” she asked nervously. 

For Chloe to be the sentimental sappy one, Beca sure felt like she was the only one that put herself out there a lot in the relationship so far. She wasn’t entirely sure how Chloe felt towards her. She had an inkling of an idea, but Beca needed it spelled out for her most of the time. 

Chloe bit her bottom lip to try and contain her smile. “Yes,” she answered. Her face grew serious. “How about, for right now, we just focus on that? We can deal with your family later, but right now… let’s just focus on us and see where it goes.”

“I’d like that,” Beca nodded. “So, does that make us, um…”

“Girlfriends?” Chloe supplied, her smile beaming. “I think it does,” she giggled.

“Good,” Beca smiled too. Her heart was ready to burst. She doesn’t remember a time she was so happy. She also doesn’t remember a time she took such a leap. She prayed it paid off. She had a feeling it would. 


	10. I Don't Wanna Talk, I Just Wanna...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut. I'm still new to writing, but here it is anyway. 
> 
> Also, follow me on Tumblr (@vortexofentertainment) where I include the social media posts and other extras from time to time!

The date could not have gone better in Beca’s mind. She had successfully pulled off a fancy evening at a fancy restaurant without embarrassing herself too badly. They had talked and laughed and kept things light. Beca felt like she was soaring. She had never had so much fun on a date.

Chloe seemed happy, too. At least, Beca took her giggling and constant pecks on the cheek to mean she was. 

They were walking back to Chloe’s apartment, hand in hand in the night under the city lights. 

“It’s still kind of early,” Chloe said as they stopped in front of her building. “Do you want to come up for a glass of wine or something?”

“That sounds great,” Beca smiled. She had no intentions of leaving Chloe so soon. 

“Awes,” Chloe said with a grin and pulled Beca up the stairs. 

They made their way to Chloe’s apartment, both shedding their shoes at the door. It felt good to be barefooted. It made Beca more comfortable. She didn’t want to shed her blazer jacket. It went well with the white dress that resembles an oversized men’s dress shirt with a thick black belt covering some of her torso. The knee-high boots she took off had been killing her feet all night, so getting rid of those made her a feel a little better. 

She still couldn’t get over how amazing Chloe looked. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that she’s a beautiful, hot, sexy woman. But tonight, in the off the shoulder flowery red dress that fell to just above her knees… she was smokin’. Beca felt all types of things while looking at her red painted lips and hair that was up in a high ponytail, exposing more skin around her neck and shoulders. It had taken a lot of concentration on Beca’s part for her to not just stare in awe at her beautiful girlfriend. 

_Her girlfriend_. The thought still made her giddy. 

“So, I hope you’re good with white wine because I may have finished all the red the other day after I finished studying,” Chloe said with a giggle from the kitchen. 

The image of Chloe in the kitchen, reaching up to grab the glasses made Beca’s heart flutter. The dress came up a little higher, and Beca took note of Chloe’s biceps and how muscular her arms were. 

She was feeling bold. She and Chloe had been on the cusp of something great so many times since the heated kiss in her room not too long ago. She wanted to take that leap and go a step further. She felt like she was ready. 

Beca found herself wandering into the kitchen behind Chloe. She was still stretched out, trying to reach the two wine glasses that seemed to be just out of her grasp. Beca wrapped her arms around the redhead’s torso, letting her hand spread across Chloe’s stomach. She rested her chin on Chloe’s shoulder. Beca felt Chloe’s hands fall onto hers and intertwine their fingers. Beca turned her head so that her lips were brushing against Chloe’s neck.

“What are you up to?” Chloe asked with a smirk. She let her temple rest on Beca’s forehead.

“What if we skip the wine?” Beca asked in a hushed voice as she placed a kiss on Chloe’s jaw. She could hear and feel the breath catch in Chloe’s throat. 

“We could do that,” Chloe answered quietly. Beca could feel the way she was tensed up, her neck slightly strained as her eyes closed and she captured her bottom lip between her teeth. “But only if you’re sure.”

Beca smiled a bit. Chloe had been nothing but perfect to her. She was taking things slow, but Beca knew what she wanted and what she felt. 

“I’m sure,” Beca told her, lips moving against Chloe’s skin. She smelt like vanilla. It was enticing.

“I’m serious, Becs.” Chloe’s nails dug into Beca’s skin enough for her to register exactly how much Chloe was holding back. It made her body tingle even more as she placed an open mouth kiss on the redhead’s neck. 

“I am too.” 

Chloe turned in her arms and looked at her. Those bright blue eyes were searching Beca’s for any sign of a second thought or doubt. She wasn’t going to find it. Beca’s entire body was humming and she wanted more. The feel of Chloe in her arms wasn’t enough. 

The thought of Chloe writhing in her arms, however, sent a hot flash to her core. Chloe must have picked up on the fire that ignited Beca’s eyes because she leaned forward.

It was a soft kiss. Chloe’s lips molded perfectly to Beca’s. It wasn’t enough though. Beca readjusted her angle and kissed Chloe with more fervor. She pushed her up against the counter, letting their bodies press together completely. She slipped her knee between Chloe’s in the most natural way and deepened the kiss even more. 

Their tongues tangled together in Chloe’s mouth. Beca was in control, which was different. She liked the feeling, but a part of her wanted Chloe to take over and lead her through it all. 

As if reading her mind, Chloe broke the kiss to move her lips to Beca’s neck. Beca draped her arms over Chloe’s shoulders as she clung to her. She could feel Chloe’s teeth graze her skin followed immediately by her tongue. It was electrifying.

The heat that settled between her legs was unbearable. She needed more.  _More, more, more._

“Chloe,” Beca said, voice barely audible. 

She needed something. She wasn’t sure what because she had never done this with a girl, and her sexual adventures with men were limited. She knew, though, that she needed more of Chloe. She wanted her everywhere. She wanted to breathe  _Chloe_. 

At the sound of her name, Chloe was moving. She started to guide Beca towards the bedroom, moving her lips back to Beca’s as she pushed the blazer from her shoulders. Her fingers worked with exact precision as she started to unbutton Beca’s dress, undoing the belt and letting it join the rest of Beca’s clothing on the floor. 

They stood at the edge of Chloe’s bed, Beca in her underwear and scrambling to get Chloe’s dress off. It fell off easily once she found the zipper. 

Beca pulled away to look down between them. Chloe’s body was slim and perfect. She wanted to kiss and taste every inch of it. Their hips were pressed together, their stomachs parting just a bit as they reconnected at their foreheads.  

Beca let her hand rest on Chloe’s stomach. The skin was smooth and hot. Her eyes traveled up to Chloe’s strapless bra and to the expanse of freckles that spread across her chest. Her mouth was suddenly so dry.

When she looked back up, she saw that Chloe was looking at her the same way. Usually undressing was Beca’s least favorite part about sex. She always felt so vulnerable and exposed. But now? Now she felt beautiful. The way Chloe was looking at her made Beca feel as if she could do anything. 

She could see the fire in Chloe’s eyes. Her pupils were blown with lust as she moved forward again. She pressed her lips to Beca’s as she turned and sat on the bed. Beca followed, not wanting to lose contact with Chloe one bit. She settled in her lap, straddling her hips like she had in her bed just a few days ago. 

Beca was lifted and spun so that her back hits the mattress. Chloe’s strength just continued to surprise her. 

Chloe was nestled perfectly between Beca’s open legs. She was looking at Beca in such a way that Beca was sure would cause her cheeks to erupt in flames (along with other parts of her body). When Chloe dipped back down, her lips found purchase on Beca’s neck. She knew that she was going to have a bruise where Chloe was sucking and nibbling, but she couldn’t find it in her to care. 

A roll of Chloe’s hips brought a moan from Beca. She just couldn’t believe how incredibly hot her body was. There was fire and Chloe everywhere, but not enough. 

The moan only spurred Chloe on. Her lips were back on Beca’s and the brunette was being kissed slowly and deeply with the movement of Chloe’s hips supplying just a hint of relief. 

Beca wanted to get her hands everywhere. She reached as far down as she could until her hands cupped Chloe’s ass. She pulled on them to encourage her rocking. She thought she might die if Chloe stopped. 

Chloe kissed her way down to Beca’s collarbone, letting her tongue leave wet dots wherever is pressed. It made Beca’s breathing become even more labored, but a gasp escaped her lips when Chloe’s tongue and lips found their way to the swell of her breasts. 

Beca felt Chloe’s hands skirt up her back until the clasp of her bra was being popped open and suddenly it was gone. It was amazing how quickly Chloe could work, and Beca would have to remember to ask her about it. 

Chloe avoided the one spot on Beca’s breast that she desperately wanted her to settle on. Instead, she kissed all around the peak that was begging for attention. 

Beca’s hands instinctively go to Chloe’s hair that’s still up in a ponytail. She tried to be gentle as she attempted to take it down, she really did, but she heard Chloe hiss when she finally worked the tie out of those red locks. 

“Sorry,” Beca apologized as she tried to soothe Chloe by running her fingers gently through her hair. 

“Don’t be,” Chloe answered in a low voice that made the heat between Beca’s legs grow. Chloe’s sexy voice was… well… sexy. “I like it.”

With one swift motion, Chloe’s lips are wrapped around Beca’s nipple. Beca inhaled sharply, taking in the sensation gladly as her fingers twist a little tighter in Chloe’s hair. The way Chloe’s tongue swirled around the peak of skin and then gently sucked had Beca squirming. 

“Do you like this?” Chloe asked as she moved to Beca’s other breast.

“Mhmm,” Beca managed to nod. She had a solid grip on Chloe to keep her exactly where she was. She felt Chloe’s other hand that wasn’t still behind her, pulling her closer, reach up and start to tweak the nipple that had been abandoned. 

Beca bit her bottom lip to keep the noises she wanted to make at bay but couldn’t help but arch her back into the touch. Her hips moved without her consent to grind against Chloe.

Her lips were being kissed again, but the only thing Beca could focus on was the feather-like touches of Chloe’s fingers skimming down her stomach and stopping at the waistband of her underwear. 

“Can I?” Chloe asked once more as she pulled away from Beca’s lips and locked eyes with her. Beca would find it endearing if she wasn’t about to combust from not being touched.

“Please…” Beca whined. She didn’t mean for it to sound so needy or desperate, but she really doesn’t care. It was like Chloe was everywhere but exactly where Beca needed her. Their bodies were pressed together, the heat was unbearable, and Chloe was still wearing entirely too many articles of clothing.

With that thought, Beca reached around and unclasped Chloe’s bra quite impressively. She was expecting to fumble, a lot of fumbling actually. She had never undone another girl’s bra before. Beginners luck, she supposed. 

Before Beca could do what she wanted to do to Chloe’s breasts, Chloe’s fingers had dipped under Beca’s waistband and found their way to the throbbing bundle of nerves begging for attention. 

Beca inhaled sharply when Chloe circled it once, then twice, and then she had a rhythm. Her lips were on Beca’s neck, biting and sucking at the same spot that Beca was coming to really love. 

Chloe’s movements were slow but precise. It had Beca closer to the edge sooner than she would have like. It was just the way Chloe’s body moved against hers and the way her teeth grazed her skin and her tongue soothed it… it was all too much for Beca to comprehend, but she needed  _more_.

“Chlo,” Beca exhaled as she rocked her hips to meet the rhythm. 

With one slick move, Chloe dipped her fingers down and into Beca who arched her back once again in response. Her hands flew to Chloe’s back, scratching and gripping to find some kind of anchor. With each move of Chloe’s nimble fingers, Beca felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge.

She reached for Chloe’s neck and pulled her back so that she could kiss her properly. The redhead’s fingers moved back up to circle Beca’s clit a couple of times before dipping back down and in to continue their thrusting.

Beca was close, but not quite there. “Harder,” she mumbled against Chloe’s lips. She noticed the stutter in Chloe’s movements, but she recovered quickly.

Chloe thrust her fingers in deeper and harder, causing Beca to moan louder than ever. Embarrassingly loud, actually. If she had any care in the world right now, she would be paranoid that Chloe’s walls were too thin, and she’d wake the neighbors. But she didn’t care, because she had Chloe Beale  _fucking_  her and that was all that mattered.  

“What do you need?” Chloe asked as she trailed kisses back down to Beca’s breast.

“Just…” Beca started but stopped when Chloe’s fingers hit just the right spot that sent her grasping for anything to hold on to. One hand landed in Chloe’s hair while the other twisted in the sheets. “Don’t stop,” Beca breathed and Chloe didn’t. 

The waves of pleasure that rocked through Beca’s body were mind-blowing. Her hips jerked on their own volition as she came. Chloe slowed her movement just a tad to let Beca ride it out. Her body stilled as the orgasm came to an end, but she felt as if her entire body was humming still.  

Her breath was ragged, and her body was slick with sweat. That went for both of them, actually. Beca noticed a grin on Chloe’s face as she hovered over her, waiting to kiss Beca again.

“That was…” Beca started but she had no words.

“Sounded like it,” Chloe smirked as she leaned down. Her lips brushed against Beca’s before she pulled back. “I’m not done with you yet,” she whispered before kissing just off the corner of Beca’s mouth. 

Beca had no idea what Chloe was talking about, mostly because her mind was still reeling, but she quickly caught on as she watched Chloe kiss her way down Beca’s body. Chloe pulled Beca’s underwear down and off completely, taking the time to take her own off in the process. 

“Oh my god,” Beca moaned as she felt Chloe’s tongue run through her folds. Just the sight alone was enough to almost send her flying back over the edge. 

She bunched the covers up in her fists to keep from pulling Chloe’s hair out like she was afraid she’d do, but she felt a hand wrap around one of her wrists. Chloe guided the hand to her red locks and gave an encouraging squeeze. 

Beca gave Chloe’s hair a little tug as she felt her tongue swirl around her already swollen clit. 

“Fuck!” Beca moaned as Chloe started to suck. 

That was enough to send the second wave of an orgasm crashing over her. It was more mind-numbing than the first and she had to forcefully pull Chloe up from between her legs to make her stop. She couldn’t handle anymore. 

“I’ve been wanting to taste you for a while now,” Chloe grinned as she settled on top of Beca as if she hadn’t just done or say unspeakable things. Beca had never had someone be so forward, or  _good_  at what Chloe had just done. She liked it, a lot. The dirty talk, the dirty things, it was something she could definitely grow accustomed to. 

“So sorry to keep you waiting,” Beca chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s back to pull her closer. She bent her knee and pressed up between Chloe’s legs. She could feel the wetness there and wanted to do something about it.

“Want to taste?” Chloe asked.

“Wha-“

Beca was interrupted by Chloe’s tongue in her mouth and the taste of herself overwhelming the kiss. Her mind was going haywire. The sexiness of Chloe, the taste of herself, the way Chloe was grinding gently on her leg, it was all just sending sparks flying in every direction. 

She tightened her grip on Chloe and rolled with her until she was on top. She deepened the kiss and took full control. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She wanted to be perfect for Chloe. 

“What do you need?” Beca whispered as she kissed Chloe’s jaw. 

She let her fingers travel down the redhead’s body until they settled between her legs. Chloe was wetter than she initially thought. The small groan that escaped her lips with just a brush of Beca’s hand told her she was doing something right.  

She shut her mind off. She didn’t want to overthink anything. She just wanted to do everything right.

She started to move her fingers against the bundle of nerves that had been so horribly neglected while Chloe was working on Beca. Beca cursed herself for not paying more attention, but then again, she was extremely distracted and planned on making up for it.

“A little to the left,” Chloe told her and Beca obliged. She wanted nothing more than to make Chloe feel how she had felt  _twice_. “Right there, don’t… oh, fuck, don’t stop.” 

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Beca whispered as she dipped her head and took one of Chloe’s nipples into her mouth. 

She felt Chloe’s fingers tangle in her own hair, and she kind of got what was so great about it. The sharp pain of a hair tug was sexy. No guy had ever done that before, or maybe they had and Beca just couldn’t for the life of her remember. Her mind was otherwise occupied.

“Beca,” Chloe moaned as her grip tightened. 

“Tell me,” Beca said. She needed to be told until she learned what all of Chloe’s ticks were. She wanted to be perfect at it, and she was thoroughly looking forward to all the practice.

“I need you,” Chloe exhale and Beca understood. 

She slid her fingers down and pushed one into Chloe. She tried to mimic the curling motion Chloe had used but decided it wasn’t enough, so she added another. 

“Yes,” Chloe exhaled as Beca quickened her pace. 

She found her way back up to Chloe’s lips and kissed her deeply. She rocked her own hips against the back of her hand to add to the movement she had already worked up to. That did the trick because the next thing she knew was that Chloe was clenched around her and very still. 

Beca slowed her fingers a bit and watched as Chloe’s brown furrowed and her mouth hung open. Beca placed a kiss on her jawline and then her cheek.

“You’re really good at that,” Chloe finally exhaled as her whole body relaxed. Beca removed her fingers slowly and brought them up to Chloe’s mouth. 

“Wanna taste?” she asked with a devilish smirk. She was curious now. Not only did she want to even the orgasm score, but she wanted to see what it was actually like to do that.

The look on Chloe’s face was priceless to Beca. It was a mixture of shock and pure lust. Her lips twitched upward just slightly. The smile dropped just a bit when Beca started to nibble at Chloe’s neck.

“Becs, you don’t have to…”

“I want to,” Beca said as she kissed her way down to Chloe’s collarbone. She was feeling kind of dirty now. She was willing to test the waters. “I want to taste you,” she said as she kissed Chloe’s breast. Chloe’s back arched in response. “And make you scream my name,” she added as she kissed around Chloe’s bellybutton. “And I want to get good at this,” she kissed right above her final destination. “So that I can do it over, and over, and over…”

She felt Chloe finally take her fingers into her mouth and swirl her tongue around them. Beca looked up with a grin as she settled between Chloe’s legs.

“You’ll have to tell me if I’m not doing this right,” she said before pressing her tongue to Chloe’s opening. 

Her fingers came out of Chloe’s mouth as Chloe let her head hit the pillow. Instead, Beca brought her other hand up and squeezed both of Chloe’s breasts in unison. 

“Fuck, Beca,” Chloe moaned as Beca swirled her tongue around Chloe’ clit. “I can’t…” she started to say but was cut off when Beca moved her tongue down and into her opening. “ _Shit_ ,” she said as her hands flew to Beca’s hair. 

Beca hummed in approval. She loved that she had this effect on Chloe. She loved hearing Chloe curse like that. It gave her a high all by itself. 

“I’m going to cum,” Chloe told her, which sent hot flashes throughout Beca’s body. Hearing Chloe say those words like that… in that way… to Beca… because of what she was doing…  _wow_. 

Beca moved her tongue back up and closed her lips around Chloe’s bundle of nerves, sucking as Chloe had done to make her finish for the second time. 

It worked for Chloe too, because she was making that face again but this time her hips jerked against Beca’s face and her thighs closed around Beca’s ears. 

When she finally relaxed, Beca placed kisses along Chloe’s body again as she made her way back up to her lips. She kissed Chloe once more, deep and passionate. Their tongues swirled around each other’s less and less until Beca placed a chaste kiss on those beautiful lips of Chloe’s and settled beside her. 

“You’ve never done that before?” Chloe asked as she turned to face Beca, still breathless. 

Beca simply shook her head as a satisfactory grin spread across her lips. She turned so that she was facing Chloe, too. She reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind the redhead’s ear. 

She watched as Chloe reached up and traced a finger down the side of her cheek. She closed her eyes, leaning into it a bit, and took note of how she was feeling. 

She had this floating sensation. Like she was a little light headed but completely grounded at the same time. 

The fingers traced down the side of her neck and over her shoulder. It went back and traced around her shoulder blade as Chloe pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

Beca wanted to say something to make the moment even better, but she couldn’t think of anything. That wasn’t really her strong suit. She could probably make a mean playlist about it, or even one of her old mixes would do, but she’d save that for another time. 

Instead, all she did was wiggle her way closer to Chloe so that she was wrapped in the redhead’s arms completely. With their legs intertwined and bodies pressed together, Beca took a deep breath and drifted to sleep before she had a chance to think about much else. 

**

When she woke up the next morning, her body ached in all the right places. She was turned over and facing the opposite way she had fallen asleep facing, and she felt Chloe pressed up against her back. 

Chloe’s fingers were tracing lines from Beca’s elbow up to her shoulder. She could feel Chloe perched up on one elbow looking down at her. 

“You know, some people frown upon being watched while they sleep,” she said quietly as she opened her eyes and turned to face her girlfriend. 

A grin spread across her lips and Chloe leaned down to press a chaste kiss against them. “Good morning,” the redhead said in sleepy, morning voice.

“Morning,” Beca answered as she settled on her back. She took note of how beautiful Chloe looked. She knew that fact already, but still. It took her breath away every time. “How are you so beautiful in the morning?”

“I was about to ask you the same question,” Chloe replied. She bent back down and kissed Beca a little more passionately. 

“Mm,” Beca groaned as she pulled away from Chloe before the kiss could go further. “I have morning breath.”

“Becs,” Chloe said giving her a knowing look. “I couldn’t care less,” she went on as she kissed Beca again. She slipped her tongue into the brunette’s mouth effortlessly. 

When they broke apart, Beca turned to look at the clock that was sitting on the nightstand. She sat up quickly, pushing Chloe off of her in the process. 

“Is that the time?” she asked looking between Chloe and the clock.

“Um, yeah?” Chloe answered as she righted herself on the bed. 

“Shit,” Beca mumbled as she jumped out of the bed and started to reach for her clothes. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, my boss is going to kill me!”

“What?” Chloe asked as Beca threw on her clothes from the night before. They were wrinkled, and she knew she looked a mess, but she had no other option.

“I’m going to be late. I have a huge meeting this morning with some artist that’s basically the worst human on the planet, but I have to meet with him to show him the changes I made to his song in,” she looked at the clock, “twenty minutes.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have gotten you up!” Chloe said as she threw Beca her underwear in an attempt to help. 

The brunette slipped them on under her dress and rushed back over to the bed. She crawled towards Chloe, placed a kiss on her lips, and then started for the door. 

“I forgot! I’ll see you later!” Beca rushed out the door and down the steps. It only hit her as she stood on the side of the street that she didn’t have a ride. 

“Beca!” Chloe said as she rushed down the stairs. She was wrapping a robe around her still naked body. Parts of which Beca could still see.  

“Dude! Clothes!” Beca said as Chloe finally got her robe tied securely around her.

“Get in my car,” Chloe said as she grabbed Beca’s hand and drug her towards the apartment building’s parking garage. “I’ll drive you.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Beca exhaled as she crawled into Chloe’s passenger seat. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to the redhead’s cheek.

“Anything for my girl,” Chloe grinned as she put the car in reverse and backed out. 

_Her girl._

**

Beca walked home in a daze. The last hour or so replayed in her mind as if she were watching it on a tv screen.

There was yelling, lots of yelling. She had stayed quiet though. Her dreams were out the window. Just like that. One hour was all it took. Except, it was her choice. The words had just flown out of her mouth. Pimp-Lo had pushed her too far. 

She found herself outside of her apartment door. She fumbled with her keys. Her hands were trembling. Out of anger or something else, she wasn’t sure which. 

When she finally managed to get the door open, she immediately heard talking. She put on a brave face. She was fine. Everything was fine.

“You’re home early,” Amy said as she sat on the couch. 

“I, um, I quit,” Beca said quietly. 

Amy stood up quickly and looked at her best friend as Beca dropped her things next to the door. 

“What?” Amy asked. Beca started to pace.

“I quit my job,” Beca repeated with a tight smile and a struggling thumbs up in an attempt to make the sentence a bit lighter.

“You got fired?!” Amy asked as she wrapped her arms around Beca.

“Oh, come on,” Beca groaned as she fought against Amy. “I didn’t get fired. I quit, and you are kind of making it worse,” Beca added as Amy pulled her down to the couch.

“Release all the negative energy! No, seriously, open your legs or something. It’ll help,” Amy instructed as she demonstrated what she meant. 

“Why are you like this?” Beca mumbled, her shoulders pulled up around her chin in an attempt to squirm away. 

“You’re going to come back from this so fast,” Amy said, and she pulled Beca closer.

“Mm,” 

“You know why? Because you have an amazing best friend.”

“Is that you?”

“Yeah!”

“Okay,”

Amy finally sat up, pulling Beca with her. “But seriously, you’re going to be okay. Because you have to pay the rent, and since I’m staying here now that’s super important.”

“You could get a job, you know,” Beca suggested.

“Beca,” Amy said seriously. “You’re in shock. Let’s get you something to eat.”

Beca watched as her friend got up and moved towards the kitchen. As Amy rifled through the pantry, Beca pulled her phone out and looked down at a notification that had popped up onto her screen. It was from Instagram saying that “@blissfullybeale” had tagged her in a photo.

She opened the picture and rolled her eyes a bit and smiled. It was a picture Chloe had taken of her before they went out yesterday. She didn’t know Chloe had taken the picture, but she had and apparently, it was Instagram worthy. 

Chloe had told her about a building she had been in once with an amazing view. She insisted that they stop in since it was on their way to the restaurant and they had plenty of time. Beca had agreed (of course) and Chloe was right, the view was amazing. 

The picture Chloe had snapped was of Beca in front of a large window with the city behind her. Beca was looking off to the side as she tried to get her hair to stay where she wanted it to. 

What Chloe didn’t know was that Beca had taken a photo of her own. One where Chloe was talking to some other people at the restaurant as they waited to be seated. Beca had gone to the restroom and came back to find Chloe speaking adamantly with another couple as they waited to be seated.

She decided it was time to post it on Instagram. None of her family followed her on the site. She made sure of that by blocking them all after they freaked about a picture she posted with “foul language” in it. Honestly, they didn’t even know Beca.

“Here,” Amy said as she tossed a poptart towards Beca. Somehow, Beca managed to catch it before it hit her in the face. She looked down at the foil wrapping and then back up at Amy. 

“Thanks,” she deadpanned. There was a poptart missing from the package. Amy was already chewing on the first bite.

Beca’s phone vibrated again but this time it was a snapchat from Chloe. It was a picture of Chloe’s neck where Beca had gotten a little carried away last night. It was lightly bruised from Beca’s lips and Beca was willing to bet she had a matching one on her own neck. 

The caption simply read ‘Miss you’. Beca swiped up to reply. She typed ‘Then come over’ and hit send. 

**

Chloe was there in a matter of minutes. She was worried. Beca shouldn’t be home so soon, and Beca wasn’t giving her any indication as to why. So, here she was. Standing in front of the door worrying about a girl was fairly certain she was falling in love with. 

She knocked on the door and Fat Amy answered. Beca was sitting at the kitchen table picking at her food, but she looked over at her. Her face lit up when she saw Chloe. 

“She got fired,” Amy said before Chloe could even say hi. The redhead tore her eyes away from Beca to look at Amy with concern. 

“Amy!” Beca snapped. It brought Chloe’s attention back to her.

“No!” Chloe exhaled as she walked over to Beca. It was what she had feared. Did she cause Beca to be fired for making her late? Twice, now that Chloe thought about it.

“I didn’t get fired, I quit.”

“Oh,” Chloe said as she looked over her shoulder at Amy. Amy’s eyes were wide, and she was subtly shaking her head. “Um, so, you’re okay?” Chloe asked turning back to Beca. She was thoroughly confused. 

“Perfect,” Beca replied, although Chloe didn’t believe her. “I haven’t actually done anything there since my first year as an intern,” Beca went on. “They were holding me back creatively and I know I could do so much better.” Chloe wasn’t sure who Beca was trying to convince. “I’m going to stick to just being a DJ for the time being. I’m good at that. I can do what I want with that.”

Beca was nodding and picking at the poptart in front of her. Chloe’s hand was resting on Beca’s wrist because she couldn’t keep her hand still long enough to actually be held. Her foot was tapping quickly.

“Hey,” Chloe said quietly as she reached up to gently turn Beca’s head towards her. They locked eyes, and Chloe could see the wheels turning in Beca’s mind. She looked scared and confused, but also maybe kind of proud for actually going through with it. There was a lot of emotion there that she was trying to suppress. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I told her that,” Amy mumbled but Chloe didn’t take her eyes off Beca. 

Finally, Beca nodded just slightly. Her lips were parted just a bit and she was concentrating hard on Chloe. She decided to give Beca her best smile, one that she hoped would ease her mind at least a little. 

The change in Beca’s face was obvious. Her eyes softened, the corner of her lips turned upward, and her foot stopped tapping. She looked more relaxed. Chloe was in awe of the fact that she could make it happen for the brunette. She wanted nothing more than to keep it that way and make sure Beca was always at ease. 

“Why don’t you go take a shower? It’ll make you feel better. Cleaner maybe,” Chloe suggested with the raise of her eyebrows. 

Beca nodded again gently, but when she got up she wouldn’t let go of Chloe’s hand. Chloe stood with her and followed. 

“Oh, well, alright then. I’ll just be in my room!” Amy called after them, but Chloe wasn’t really listening. 

She followed Beca into the bathroom and stood in front of her. They were just staring at each other until, finally, Chloe couldn’t take it anymore. 

She wrapped Beca into a hug. She wanted to make sure that her girlfriend ( _wow_  she still couldn’t believe that was a thing) knew that she was there for her. 

Beca’s arms wrapped around Chloe tightly. They stood in the middle of the bathroom, holding each other for what seemed like only a few seconds, but minutes had passed, and Chloe really did want to just let Beca take a nice shower. She knew the powers something like that could have on a crappy day. 

“I’ll be in your room, okay?” Chloe breathed as she pulled away from Beca. She thought maybe Beca needed to be alone for a second to gather herself. She cupped the brunette’s cheeks and kissed her gently. 

“What, now that we’re together you don’t feel the need to barge into my shower anymore?” Beca joked as she kissed Chloe again. “Stay.”

“Only if you want me to,” Chloe answered in between kisses that were growing hotter and hotter.

“Of course, I want you to.” 

Chloe couldn’t think anymore. Beca’s hands wandering all over her body were far too distracting.


	11. Practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Life's been crazy and I've had zero motivation/creativity available to get this done. I hope it doesn't suck. Enjoy!

“Okay ladies, line it up!” Aubrey said with a clap of her hands.

Beca watched as all nine girls scrambled to get into place. Emily and Stacie looked a little more lost than the other seven, but confident none the less. 

The Bellas had been practicing for a week or so now, and Beca finally held up to her promise to come and watch. Chloe had insisted that she give them at least a little more time to get ready, considering none of them had performed in a while. 

But Beca didn’t care really about the other Bellas. Her eyes were glued to Chloe and her ears were tuned to the music that really needed an update. She couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t the exact same routine they performed all those years ago. 

They weren’t terrible. A little rusty maybe. Stacie and Emily fit in perfectly as they went through the routine and Emily even had a solo. 

And, to Beca’s surprise, when Chloe said that they had a beatboxer named Lilly she was talking about the same Lilly that was Beca’s friend in college. Beca had no idea the girl was in an a capella group, but then again, she really didn’t know anything about Lilly. She was secretive, weird, and kind of scary. Oh, and one hell of a beatboxer. 

“How do I get in on this shindig?” Amy asked as she watched alongside Beca. She had brought her blonde friend for support, to keep her from falling into Chloe’s trap of twerking and other sexy moves that had Beca practically drooling. 

“Seriously?” Beca asked looking over at Amy. The Bellas finished their performance and Chloe skipped over to Beca with a big smile on her face.  

“So?” Chloe asked expectantly. 

“I want in!” Amy blurted out. Chloe looked at her, clearly confused but also elated. 

“Can you match pitch?” Chloe asked as she stood up a little straighter. 

“Try me,” Amy challenged, and Chloe did.

Beca was surprised that her friend could match every pitch Chloe threw at her. When did all of her friends become so talented? 

“Why don’t you come to practice tomorrow, and we’ll see how well you can adapt to the choreography,” Chloe grinned. 

Amy nodded once and then she was off to socialize. Beca hoped the other Bellas were ready for someone like Amy. She could be a lot at first. 

“Becs,” Chloe said as she took Beca’s hand in both of hers. 

“You were great,” Beca told her truthfully. She pulled Chloe a little closer and kissed her. “The music is a little outdated, but you guys are good.”

“I could think of someone who could update the music and add a killer alto to our pack,” Chloe said hopefully.

“Chloe,” Beca groaned. “You guys are great, and with Amy now you have the ten you wanted to begin with.”

She could see the disappointment in Chloe’s face as she spoke. Everything inside of her wanted to give in and just agree to do it.

“How about I help with the music? I can do that,” she compromised. It was amazing what Chloe could convince her to do without really saying anything at all.

“Fine,” Chloe mumbled as she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

“Don’t be mad.” Beca leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her girlfriend’s nose.

“I’m not mad,” Chloe exhaled. “Just disappointed,” she added, and she wrapped her arms around Beca’s waist and pulled her closer. “But I get it. It’s not for you.”

Beca didn’t say anything, she just chewed on her bottom lip as she studied Chloe’s disappointed face. She knew the redhead wasn’t trying to guilt her into it, but she still felt that ache in her heart that came with disappointing anyone. 

“Okay, fine,” Beca broke in a huff. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. 

“Wait, what?” Chloe asked, leaning away from Beca to see her face a little better. 

“I’ll do it,” Beca said unenthusiastically as she closed her eyes tightly. “Just… yeah. I’ll do it.” She opened her eyes to see just how excited Chloe was.

“Becs, you don’t have to,” Chloe tried to backtrack. It was cute, really. The way her eyes were glowing with excitement, but she was trying to keep a serious face.

“I want to, for you,” Beca told her. “Hell, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“That’s the spirit,” she heard from behind her. She turned and looked at Aubrey. She couldn’t get a good read on the blonde’s expression. “Hi, I’m Aubrey Posen. Chloe’s best friend,” she said as she stuck her hand out for Beca to shake.

“Beca,” Beca replied, taking the outstretched hand. Aubrey’s grip was strong and a little too tight in Beca’s opinion.

She had heard so much about Aubrey, but nothing really to get a good read of her beforehand. Chloe just usually gushed about her and their friendship and how much she loved her best friend. It was cute, but Beca had an inkling she and Aubrey wouldn’t be that close. 

“Beca said she’s in!” Chloe grinned as she jumped up and down beside Beca. 

“Well, we’ll have to hear her sing first,” Aubrey said as she looked at Chloe. 

“I’m sorry?” Chloe asked as her brow furrowed.

“I know you said she was great, Chloe, but the rest of us need to be the judge of that as well.” 

Beca looked from Aubrey over to Chloe. The redhead looked downright offended that Aubrey would ever even consider the fact that Beca was not qualified for the Bellas. The rest of the group was crowding around them now, waiting to see how it all played out.

“You want me to audition?” Beca asked, just for her own clarity. 

“Every potential member must audition to become a Bella,” Aubrey explained. “Emily and Stacie sang for us at the first practice, and just because you’re dating Chloe doesn’t give you a pass.”

Beca raised her eyebrows a bit at the comment but a grin spread across her lips. Aubrey was a little bitchy, but Beca always liked that in a person.

“Aubrey,” Chloe said in a hushed tone. 

“No, it’s fine.” Beca turned towards Chloe, the grin still in place. “I don’t mind.”

“I’ll go first,” Amy said loudly as she stepped into the middle of the group. All the attention turned to her, including Aubrey’s, who looked confused. 

Before anyone could ask any questions or protest, Amy broke into song. She belted Since You Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson at the top of her lungs until the very end when she whispered, “Crushed it,”

Everyone applauded. Beca still couldn’t get over how her friends were all so talented as she clapped along slowly with everyone else.

“Alright Shawshank, your turn,” Amy said as she pointed to Beca very whimsically and weird. 

“Um,” Beca looked around a bit. She spotted a cup on the table beside her holding a bunch of pens. She promptly poured them all out and then took a seat on the floor in the middle of the group.

Her stomach was churning with nerves. She wasn’t used to performing in front of a crowd, no matter how small it was. She guessed it was something she should get used to since she had agreed to this whole thing. 

God, what had she gotten herself into?

She cleared her throat once before tapping the cup twice and starting the song. She had learned it from a YouTube tutorial. She spent one whole day after school working to master the Cup Song as she called it. She wasn’t sure how she came across it in the first place, or why she felt the need to be so good at it. She just knew it had never helped her in any way until now. 

When she slammed the cup down to finish the song, she looked up at Chloe’s beaming face. Her smile was big, and her eyes were bright. Even if she didn’t get into the group, that look alone was worth doing this a thousand times over in Beca’s mind. 

“Seems to me like we have two new Bellas!” Cynthia Rose said as she began to clap. 

Emily reached down and pulled Beca up, wrapping her in a hug as she let out an excited squeal. “I can’t believe you’re a Bella!” she gushed as she let go of Beca. 

“Well, she’s whipped, so it makes sense,” Stacie said as she wrapped an arm around Beca as soon as Emily let go. 

Beca felt her cheeks flush at the comment as Stacie let go. The fact the Chloe was now wrapped around her didn’t help the redness in her cheeks. Her girlfriend’s arms were wrapped tightly around Beca’s neck, bodies pressed together, as Beca managed to wrap her arms around Chloe in response.

“Beautiful,” Chloe mumbled as she peppered Beca’s face with kisses.

“Dude,” Beca giggled as she pushed Chloe away from her gently but keeping her grip on Chloe’s hips.

“Let’s celebrate!” Flo said excitedly to the group.

“Beca is DJing tonight at that club down the street,” Emily said just as excitedly. “We can all meet up there later tonight?” 

“Look at you go, Legacy,” Cynthia Rose joked as she nudged Emily. 

“Legacy?” Beca asked as she looked at Chloe. 

“Yeah, Emily’s mom used to be a Bella. That makes her a legacy.” 

“Dude, you never told me that,” Beca said as she turned to Emily. The taller brunette shrugged. 

“She used to talk about it all the time, so when I first started at Barden I had my heart set on trying out,” Emily explained. “Except the Bellas weren’t taking new members, and the next year I decided that maybe I needed to just focus on my studies…” Emily trailed off as she looked down at the ground. “I don’t know. It just never worked out.” 

An awkward silence fell over the group. 

“Anyway,” Stacie said loudly. “Club? Say around nine tonight?” 

All of the girls agreed and nodded as the split apart. Chloe stayed glued to Beca’s side until it was only the two of them and Aubrey left.

“So, you DJ too?” Aubrey asked.

“Yes,” Beca answered simply. “Maybe, if you want, I could help with some sets for the group?”

“We’ll see,” Aubrey replied and turned sharply to leave. “See you both tonight!” she called over her shoulder as she opened the door. 

Beca looked over at Chloe who was still staring at the now closed door her best friend had gone through. 

“She’ll warm up to you,” Chloe nodded, assuring not only herself but Beca. “She’s just kind of hard to get to know,” she added. She turned and met Beca’s gaze. 

“Maybe,” Beca grinned as she and Chloe started walking towards the door too. 

**

The Bellas were… something else. Not only were they easy to spot in the crowd, but they were easily the group having the most fun. 

Beca found herself looking up multiple times, a smile on her face, as she watched Chloe full belly laugh with her friends. She would throw her head back and her eyes would sparkle. Every time that happened she would she would look over at Beca as if she was in on the joke. It hurt to not be over there with them all the time. They were as close as they could get to the DJ booth, but Beca was otherwise occupied. 

That’s why, when she got a break, she immediately made her way over to the group.

“DJ!” Flo said excitedly as she spotted Beca first. 

Chloe turned excitedly, eyes shining as bright as her smile, and jumped up out of the booth to wrap her arms around Beca’s neck. 

“Hey there,” Beca chuckled as she let her hands rest on Chloe’s waist. She felt Chloe shift so that her lips were ticking her ear. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“You’re doing so good,” Chloe said in a gentle voice. “But I miss you.”

Beca could hear the influence of alcohol in Chloe’s voice. It was only the second time she had seen the redhead drunk, but she doesn’t really remember the first encounter in detail since she was also wasted. Experiencing a drunk Chloe while completely sober seemed like it was going to be fun.

“I’m right here,” Beca replied as Chloe pulled back so she was face to face with Beca. She was hovering closely, her eyes a little hooded with the alcohol. 

“Noooooo,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Usually you’re there.” She pointed up to the booth where Beca had been confined all night. “I want you here,” she went on as she pulled Beca’s body closer to hers. 

Beca stumbled a bit but Chloe had a tight hold around her torso. Before Beca could answer, Chloe’s lips were on hers. It was soft at first, not exactly what Beca was expecting, but then it grew more passionate. Chloe slipped her tongue into Beca’s mouth effortlessly and Beca let herself get caught up in the taste of cherry and some sort of alcohol. 

“Get a room!” Beca faintly heard as Chloe pulled away with a giggle. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the way Chloe kissed her. 

“Here, sit.” Chloe guided a still reeling Beca into the booth where she had been sitting before. Then, she promptly made herself comfortable in Beca’s lap. 

The dress Chloe was wearing wasn’t doing anything to help Beca keep her mind straight (pun not intended but accurate nonetheless). She was wearing a strapless, tight, black dress the clung to her thighs about midway down. Now that she was sitting in Beca’s lap, the dress had ridden up just a bit.  

Beca took pleasure in knowing that it was totally and completely fine for her to rest her hand on the expanse of skin just under the hem of the dress. She gave Chloe’s leg a squeeze which caused the redhead to lean back down and kiss Beca’s temple. 

“How long are you on break for?” Chloe asked as she pulled away once more.

“Fifteen minutes or so,” Beca answered.

She took time to look around at the other Bellas, this group she was now a part of, and really take it in. Stacie was talking to Aubrey about something pretty adamantly, which shocked Beca. She was sure her best friend would have been gone by now. Emily was sitting with Jessica and Ashley who were showing her something on Ashely’s phone. From the look on Emily’s face, Beca assumed it was a puppy or some sort of cute animal. Flo and Cynthia Rose were watching Fat Amy do some sort of bottle trick that Beca was sure would end in disaster. No one really knew where Lilly had gotten off to. Then, there was her and Chloe. Chloe, who was nibbling on Beca’s ear again, her hand on Beca’s jaw trying to get her to face her once more. When she finally did, Chloe captured her lips in another searing kiss.

“What’s gotten into you?” Beca asked as she pulled away with a grin. She wasn’t complaining. Not in the slightest. PDA wasn’t her thing, but if she had a frisky Chloe Beale in her lap… she wasn’t going to stop her. 

“You just look so sexy up there doing your thang,” Chloe answered with an intoxicated giggle. Her gentle caress of Beca’s jaw turned possessive as she kissed her again. 

This kiss was just downright dirty. There was no other way Beca could describe it. Chloe was in full control as she nipped at Beca’s lower lip. She bit down a little hard, pulling a gasp from Beca in response. Her body was thrumming. It was unfair that she would have to return to the booth, all alone, in less than ten minutes. 

“Chlo,” Beca managed to get out as she pulled away from her girlfriend. 

“Bec,” Chloe replied in that voice that drove Beca crazy. 

Her whole body tingled at the thought of that voice. Her fingers dug into Chloe’s thigh on instinct. She hadn’t noticed her eyes were still closed until she opened them and met Chloe’s icy blues looking back at her. 

“Do you have time to dance with me?” Chloe asked as she slid out of Beca’s lap, landing a little wobbly on her heel clad feet. 

“Actually…” Beca said with a grin. 

It was a miracle. It really was. The timing was perfect because as soon as the word left her mouth, her own special mix of Titanium came on. 

The way Chloe lit up made Beca’s heart soar. She pulled the brunette into her arms as they made their way to the dance floor. Beca wasn’t much for dancing, but dancing with Chloe might have been her favorite thing at the moment. She remembered doing it the first time they went out, but this time there were no restrictions. 

She could place her hands on Chloe’s hips as the girl turned and backed into her. She could nibble and Chloe’s ear as the redhead reached back and tangled her fingers in Beca’s hair. She could let herself feel everything as Chloe danced against her, turning and staring at her with those lust filled eyes. It was truly amazing, and Beca hated that she had to leave her girlfriend after only one dance. 

Except, for the rest of the night she got to watch Chloe have fun with her best friends. She had even described them as her family. Beca found herself chuckling throughout the remainder of the night as she watched her three best friends intermingle with Chloe’s. It looked like they all just fit together. No question about it. 

Beca was kind of glad she had decided to become one of them, too.


End file.
